Of Wolves and Vampires
by Saiyon
Summary: Bella Black was raised on La Push, and has been causing trouble wherever she goes. Only one day she suddenly shifted into a wolf, and finds out she's suddenly destined to be the alpha of the La Push pack. What's in store for her next? Tanya comes in much later, but Bella/Rosalie/Tanya ending.
1. Chapter 1

_Author's Note: Okay everyone, here's my new story. I figured showing you all the first chapter or two would get people interested, and if you want to vote for who Bella should be paired with, that would be awesome. Thanks!_

* * *

Chapter 1

Bella Black had always been a troublemaker on the reservation. To make matters worse, she had a type of charisma that just drew everyone in. Kids at the reservation school even likened her ability to charm to that of a cult leader, although in the best possible way. There was just something about Bella that people just had to love. With only a smile, she could get herself out of almost any kind of trouble.

Which was why, when it was clear that Bella would be the first on the reservation to shift into a wolf and therefore become Alpha at only eighteen years of age, the elders didn't know what to do. It was one of the best things that could happen, as Bella clearly had the makings of a leader and would be able to take control of any and all wolves. Yet it was also considered a nightmare, as this was _Bella_ they were talking about. One of the biggest, most uncontrollable kids that anyone could remember, and a girl who already followed her instincts to the point that she was often chased out of certain girls' bedrooms by a shotgun wielding father or boyfriend. What would a girl whose instincts grew so much stronger become? A girl who, the elders believed, shouldn't even be able to shift in the first place?

Bella, of course, had no idea what was going on at the time that her . She had no idea about the meetings the elders held behind her back, or that her entire life and possible future was discussed behind closed doors. All she knew was that she was starting to feel sluggish, and she felt like she was on fire all the time to the point she would have stayed home and slept all day. To her surprise, Charlie, who usually would have called bullshit and kicked her ass right to her first class, was actually letting her sleep in.

However, sleeping in didn't mean she was letting any opportunities sneak by. Girls loved a usually tough badass acting all weak and vulnerable.

"Hey, where are you going?" Bella asked, grabbing Rachel Black by the wrist before she could leave as she gave the older girl her best sultry eyes. "Are you really going to leave me all alone? What happened to taking care of my body?"

Okay, anybody who didn't know would have thought two people who had the same last name should not be having any kind of sexual relations. However, while they shared the same last name, they were very, very distantly related. At least fourth cousins, distant. To top it all off, Bella was adopted. Which meant that Rachel Black was more than fair game.

"Bella," Rachel said with a roll of her eyes, knowing just what Bella's game was. Not that she wouldn't go along with it, as she had let herself be swayed by the gorgeous brunette several times, just over the last two weeks.

"Please? I need you," Bella said, tugging lightly as she stared up into Rachel's face.

"You would say that to any girl," Rachel replied, but let herself be pulled down so that she was nearly on top of the slightly younger girl. She just couldn't help it; she was drawn to Bella, and she would do quite a bit to make her happy. Rachel had felt that way since they were little kids, only when Bella had reached sixteen, it had taken a sexual turn.

Rachel hadn't been the only one who felt that way; a lot of girls and boys had. And Bella had taken advantage of that to pursue all the girls she wanted. And she still did, of course.

Yes, Rachel was only one of several girls who "played" with Bella, and she knew it. But that was fine with her, as long as Bella never lost interest in her.

"There we go, Rach," Bella murmured as Rachel cuddled up next to her, resting her head on Bella's bicep. Bella nuzzled Rachel's neck, breathing in the nice scent. Of course, Rachel's scent wasn't calming or comforting. To Bella, it just made her really, really horny. Her hand strayed to slip under Rachel's shirt; the destination, one of Rachel's breasts. Only, it was caught by none other than Rachel herself.

"You're sick. You need to rest," Rachel told Bella, who gave a sexy, almost sultry pout in response. It was enough to sway Rachel, and both Rachel and Bella knew it.

"I heard sweating is one of the best ways of getting whatever is making me sick out of my system," Bella said persuasively with a smirk, shifting as if she was about to roll on top of Rachel and start to have some fun.

God, was Bella hot, and Rachel wasn't just talking about her feverish temperature. Rachel's lips parted, probably ready to whisper her surrender. Sadly, at that moment, the door flew open, revealing a very disgusted teenage boy.

"Ew! Couldn't you put up a sign or something?" Jacob Black complained, quickly covering his eyes. "I did not want to walk in on my sister getting ready to get it on, especially with Bella of all people."

"Then maybe you should knock first?" Bella suggested dryly as Rachel struggled to cover herself, realizing that Bella had taken off her shirt and pants sometime during their little moment. How had she even done that?

"Damn it, Jake, why did you even come here?" Rachel spat, glaring at her little brother with clear anger. He had interrupted the moment after all, not to mention embarrassed the hell out of her.

"Dad told me to check up on Bella and see how she's doing," Jacob answered, still keeping his eyes covered lest he catch sight of any more nastiness. "And since Bella is a close friend of mine, I of course agreed. Although, I'd never have guessed that my sister of all people would be so much closer to her than I am."

"Don't tell Dad," Rachel said, almost desperately, clearly without thought. She just didn't know how Billy would react to the news, and she wasn't going to handle a forced separation from Bella well.

"Oh?" Jacob asked with an evil grin as he dropped the hand covering his eyes, sensing his sister's weakness. "And why shouldn't I?" As he asked, he glanced at Bella, who seemed to be lazily unconcerned. He focused on her as he said, "So I take it you _are_ feeling better. Seeing as you were putting the moves on my sister and all."

"Actually, no. I feel like crap," Bella replied, and she wasn't lying. Her entire body felt heavy and she was seriously feverish. It felt like a monster truck had taken its sweet time running over her again and again. And again.

"She's really hot, Jake," Rachel added once she had finished putting her clothes back on under the blanket. She was clearly worried, especially once she felt Bella's forehead. It felt like Bella's temperature had shot up ten degrees just in the last five seconds alone.

"I figured you'd see her that way, since you apparently started sleeping with her," Jake replied wryly, only to let out a yelp of pain when Rachel reached out to smack him, before pulling him over to where they were.

"I'm serious," Rachel said with a glare, forcing Jacob to put his hand on Bella's forehead. "She's way too hot."

"Holy shit," Jacob muttered, jerking his hand back automatically. Bella actually felt so hot he had expected his hand to have been burned. "We need to get you to a hospital." The one all the way out in Seattle of course, as the tribe elders made it clear that no one was going to use the one in Forks because of some stupid superstition.

"Hell no," Bella grumbled. "You know how much I hate hospitals."

"Then at least let us take you to the tribe doctor," Rachel said, already starting to try and lift Bella up. Unsuccessfully of course.

"But I hate them too," Bella complained. She'd much rather stay in bed all day and be tended to by a hot girl.

"Oh, stop being such a big baby," Rachel groused.

"Not this time," Bella shot back, sinking further into the bed. She really, really hated going to the doctor. The smells, the needles, just so much was wrong with those kind of places. Bella would rather die anywhere else.

"You know, for such a badass, you can be such a wimp sometimes," Jake muttered, which made Bella stick her tongue out at him in response. He was too worried to respond, however. Instead, he was focused on trying to figure out if he should call his dad or Bella's and get them to make her go to the doctor. But did he really want to risk Bella's wrath to save her life? Yes, but only if it was really that bad. If it wasn't, he'd get his ass handed to him for months to come.

"I'll be fine, okay? I probably just need to sleep." As Bella said this, she reached out to hook an arm around Rachel's waist, trying to pull her back into bed so she could have someone to cuddle with. However, Rachel slapped her hands away and stood up.

"Fine, you sleep," Rachel said. "But you're going to see a doctor."

"Fat chance," Bella mumbled, crossing her arms over her chest as she stared hard into Rachel.

Rachel wisely ignored her, not even daring to look Bella's way. Instead, she grabbed her little brother by the arm and started pulling him out of the room. "Let's go, Jake. We need to call Charlie."

Jake looked back one last time, just to be sure Bella wouldn't be pissed at him for following his sister's lead, but found her already asleep. Now seriously worried about Bella, he quickly followed Rachel out, thinking he needed to call Billy as well.

Both calls were made, but Bella slept uninterrupted. Not one person, even her own father, entered the house, let alone checked on Bella to see how she was doing. Not that Bella noticed, or cared, as she was sleeping like the dead.

Of course, had she cared, she would have texted someone; Rachel, Jacob, Embry, Jared, her father...hell, maybe even Quil Jr. Then she would have gotten really suspicious really fast when she learned that each and every one of them had been ordered to stay away from her until she got better. Which was a little understandable, as Bella might be contagious. But had Bella dug deeper, she would have found it strange that no one would answer why she was all but put into quarantine without anyone even mentioning the word 'hospital' to her. And if she had called any of the elders, she would have found that they sounded completely unconcerned with her sickness. If anything, they would have sounded excited, or proud.

Had Bella done any of this, she would have been so suspicious that she would have jumped out of bed and stormed over to one of the elders' houses and demanded answers. Or, at the very least, she would have attempted to be all sneaky and shit by spying on them.

However, Bella had been sleeping so soundly, and had been so groggy even when awake, that she didn't think to do anything like that. Instead, she drifted in and out of consciousness, having strange dreams filled with red eyes and howling wolves. Wolves she told to shut up quite a bit, since she just wanted to sleep soundly.

She woke up in the middle of the night with a start, disoriented and burning up. The covers weren't even on the bed and the window was wide open-something she must have done in one of her random bouts of wakefulness-and it was letting in some cool air. However, Bella felt like she was burning up to the point she was all too willing to bathe up north with the penguins. Or was it polar bears? Damn it, it didn't matter, Bella just needed to get cold, and get cold fast.

Stumbling out of bed, Bella dragged herself downstairs and out the back door to get some fresh, cold air. Still, she felt so fucking hot… Bella glanced around in case anybody was watching, and when finding no one, pulled off her shirt and tossed it aside, leaving nothing on but a sports bra-yeah, she had been stupid enough to sleep with her bra on, but she had actual plans that morning until she had gotten too sick to move. Her pants quickly followed, and so she stood outside in nothing but her underwear. Of course, this was something that the adults of La Push had yelled at her for since she was eight years old, which made the situation feel so much more freeing.

But she still felt so damn hot.

And so, despite how sick she felt, Bella just ran. She ran towards the beach, more than willing to take a nice dip in the hopefully freezing waters to get her temperature down. However, she never got very far. In fact, she hadn't made it even halfway there before the cramps started, and damn did they hurt.

Bella's first thought was a panicky, _Oh no, not my period, not now._

Then she realized that she had her period only two weeks ago, and that period cramps didn't travel all the way up to her arms.

After that, she had no time for thought at all, as she fell to the ground, gritting her teeth against the pain. Her muscles rippled, feeling like they were going to rip right out of her body. And then, just like that, she exploded.

Her head hit the ground first, causing her to let out a yelp of surprise, more than pain. Then Bella realized that she had just _fucking yelped_ and checked herself, trying to scramble to her feet and regain her balance. However, it became apparent that she no longer had two feet, but four paws, paws that were scrambling for purchase as Bella tried to get her body working. She felt like a clumsy four year old again, and while she no longer felt like she was burning or dying, she did feel a rising panic because, you know...she had just turned into a _fucking animal or monster_.

Never before had Bella Black felt so freaked out. She was panting in fear, struggling just to stay standing, even while she was trying to get a look at herself to make sure she hadn't turned into some fucked up chupacabra or some other crazy shit.

"Isabella, you need to calm down," a voice spoke, and while the tone was soft, it didn't help Bella with her freaked out reaction.

Instinct took over, and she whirled towards the voice with a threatening snarl that, at any other time, would have scared the crap out of her. While Bella had bared her fangs at the person who had spoken, her lips fell, covering her teeth as she realized she was staring at her dad.

 _Dad? What the hell is going on here?_ Bella thought and tried to say, but of course, since she was a fucking fang factory of some sort, words wouldn't form. Instead, out came some confused whine/grumble combination that Bella felt embarrassed making. She continued to stare down at Charlie, since she was just that big, and waited for Charlie to say something else, hopefully in explanation. After all, he didn't look too freaked out that his daughter had exploded into some kind of beast.

"I know you feel confused and scared, but I promise you, everything will be explained," Charlie said, keeping a safe distance away. He had to hide a smirk when Bella snorted, as if saying, _Me? Scared? Yeah, right._ "That's my girl," he said, proud of his daughter. His daughter, the next alpha. She'd be one of the best ones yet. "You're going to need to follow me." Then he turned and left without another word. The man had never been one for unnecessary chatter.

Bella did her best to follow, tripping and falling all over herself-something her father wisely didn't comment on-until she finally managed to start loping along with a natural, predatory grace as she let her more devilish nature take over. For some reason, her mind took on a similar view as when she had been going after girls in Seattle and San Francisco. Of course, Bella came to realize why. Bella was quite the carnivore and, well, predator, when it involved getting the girl she wanted, and whatever she was now was both of these things as well.

She was so wrapped up in her thoughts and senses, which were all suddenly so much stronger, that she didn't realize where Charlie was leading her until they were already there. Right in front of the elders' little meeting hut. And each and every elder was waiting clearly waiting for her, somber or stern looks on their faces. They smelled pretty bad to Bella too, but she wasn't about to bring that up.

 _Oh, hell no. They cannot blame me for becoming whatever the fuck I became, can they?_ Bella thought incredulously as they continued to stare at her. Not one of them looked surprised, which meant they should have been expecting it, which meant Bella better not be taking blame for whatever was happening.

"Isabella Black," Quil Sr was the first to speak up, quite grumpily too. Then again, he had never been one of Bella's biggest fans. Something about leading his son astray with her feminine wiles, or some other bullshit. But really, the man couldn't have expected a boy as naturally mischievous as Quil would have taken the straight and narrow path, could he? "We expected you hours ago; you've kept us waiting."

 _Well excuse me for not turning into a beast thingy fast enough, you old fart,_ Bella thought snarkily. It was a good thing she wasn't human right then, because she knew she would have said it out loud too, and then she'd get in a shitload of trouble for disrespecting an elder. Again.

Billy hushed Quil Sr, then turned to Charlie expectantly. "Is she not going to shift back so we can talk? We have clothes for her."

Charlie turned to me with a shrug, and I gave him the best awkward shrug I could in return. He then turned back to Harry and said, "She only turned about an hour ago, I don't think she can yet."

"Of course she can't," Quil complained. "Just what we needed as our Alpha. Not only is she a girl, which is already unheard of, but it has to be someone as incompetent as this one as well."

"You better not talk about my daughter like that," Charlie warned as I let out a low growl, daring him to say some more shit about me. "I don't know what I'll do in response."

Quil Sr wisely shut up, and Harry was the one who took over. And the first thing he did was hold up a giant mirror to Bella's face.

Bella nearly jumped back in shock, but wasn't about to give any of the old men the satisfaction. So instead, she froze herself and stared at her reflection in shock.

She wasn't actually a monster; she was a wolf. A huge, furry wolf with a mix of white, silver, and black fur. Her face alone was bigger than half of her human body. And damn, was she gorgeous.

 _Next time Quil speaks, all I have to do is sit on him. That's more than enough to shut him up,_ Bella thought in excited wonder. She started to pose, checking herself out from all angles, but reluctantly had to stop when Billy cleared his throat.

"Right then," Billy said gruffly, and without further ado, launched into an explanation of exactly what had happened to Bella. How she had some kind of Native American blood running through her veins, most likely Quileute-which Bella knew, because otherwise she wouldn't have been adopted by someone who lived on the reservation-along with being retold the same boring legends about how the Quileute ancestors turned into wolves to fight off the Cold Ones, which were actually vampires. Oh, and that obviously both the wolf thing and the vampires were real, and that the Cullens were vampires too, and that them coming back to Forks was what triggered Bella's shift. Then they made sure to detail the treaty very carefully, repeating that all out war would happen if Bella were to break it, like they expected her to break the treaty just for the hell of it. Which was seriously rude; Bella hadn't started a fight for no reason for almost a year now. She could control herself...kinda. They also told her that she'd have a much more explosive temper from now on, with Quil Sr adding a snide, "Just what we need" that made Charlie scowl at him. They also made sure to remind Bella that this whole thing was very hush-hush, don't tell anybody or else secret, which Bella thought was stupid. She apparently wasn't even allowed to tell or warn those who are about to shift, which she would now recognize due to being told they'd go through the same fever thing that she did.

Then, in came the big whopper. Now, Bella was stuck on the reservation to protect her tribe from vampires, basically until the end of time. Which really got Bella growling. How was she supposed to go after girls now? Hell, what happened to her plans for the future? Sure, she was still figuring out if she wanted to go to college or not, but she at least wanted to try being an exotic dancer for a lesbian club or something. You know, to do something freaking awesome and unusual, something the stuck up majority of the tribe would have a conniption at.

It took a few minutes, and a few reminders that she'd probably get to kick ass for a living, for her to calm down about that one. The elders were either kind enough, or smart enough, to wait for her to settle herself down, but apparently weren't smart enough to wait before delivering the next big news.

However, since Bella was the first to change, she would be the Alpha. At least until Jacob Black, that is, would be mature and willing to take over as Alpha of the pack instead.

Damn it, Bella knew Jacob Black through and through. He was one of her best friends. And as one of his best friends, Bella knew that Jacob would never, and she meant never, become mature enough for this kind of thing. Hell, he was still so immature that he giggled like a little girl when she said things like "dick" "suck it" "fart bag" and even "I'll kick you so hard up the ass that I'll give you diarrhea for a month."

Of course, Bella wasn't exactly Miss Mature either, but she was still the better option compared to Jake. Which meant this entire fucking pack thing was doomed. They were all going to die, probably without ever even catching sight of a vampire. Bella was just going to do something stupid like accidentally lead them off a cliff or some shit.

"Think about it, she'd be a pretty good Alpha. She has some natural leadership qualities, the charisma-" Billy started to say, but Bella didn't want to hear any more of it. She was done. Well, not done with everything, just done listening to them.

So she did what any mature, powerful, alpha dude would do. She ran into the forest to pout and complain like a little girl.

Or, you know, like a two to three hundred pound werewolf bitch.


	2. Chapter 2

_Author's Note: Here's the second chapter! Hope everyone will enjoy the story, and vote on who Bella should be paired with. You can vote by going to my account page, in case some people didn't know. I would love to know what you guys think._

* * *

Chapter 2

It was five days before she returned home, and it only took that long because she wasn't about to skulk back to the elders with her tail between her legs and ask them, as best as a wolf could, for help in figuring out how to shift back to human.

So, at three in the morning, she climbed through her window, naked of course, and landed, more graceful than ever before, in her room. She then took a long shower since she had to be smelling like death, raided the fridge downstairs, and went to bed.

Only to wake up the next morning to find a very pissed off Rachel and Emily standing over her.

"I can explain," Bella said immediately as she sat up, because that was the line anybody dealing with one or more pissed off lovers went to.

"Really? Are you sure?" Rachel asked in such a scathing, furious tone, that it actually made Bella wonder if Rachel might be a werewolf too, because she apparently had one hell of a temper. "Can you really give anyone an explanation that explains why you were gone for five days, making everyone worried sick?"

"How did you even get in my house?" Bella asked instead, because that was the second thing that pretty much anyone being accused of something by an angry lover did. When you know you can't win, try to turn things around on them.

"Your father called us and told us you came home," Emily answered, to which Bella grimaced. _Damn it, Dad._

"So, start talking," Rachel said, and with that, she crossed her arms over her chest and waited.

Before Bella said something stupid, she tried to think things through, tried to come up with a reasonable explanation that she was actually allowed to tell. This, of course, made Emily and Rachel pretty damn pissed off with her, and Bella knew she was in for it.

"Okay, we're clearly all a little emotional here, so I have an idea to help us work out all of our excess energy; a threesome." Apparently, this wasn't such a good idea, because Bella got smacked over the head by both girls. To both Bella and the girls' surprise, Emily and Rachel let out an exclamation of pain, while Bella barely realized she had been hit. "Sorry?" Bella tried to apologize as both girls cradled their injured hand protectively.

"Oh, you're going to be sorry. Because I still want an explanation as to why you decided to run away or whatever while you were _sick_ , of all things, and not tell anyone where you were or if you were alive for _five whole days_ ," Rachel hissed at her.

Huh. Maybe Rachel was going to turn into some kind of werecat instead. She's already got the hiss thing down after all. Then again, she had the hiss and temper down for years now, so maybe Rachel was just another pissed off human chick. Not allowing her mind to travel too far down the supernatural road, Bella turned to Emily, the less likely to kill her of the two, to coax to her side.

"I have my reasons, I swear," Bella said, giving Emily the big, smoky eyed look. "You understand, don't you Em?"

"Ah...um," Emily replied intelligently, because for some reason, Bella was even more distracting than usual. Distracting in the sexy sense, that is, and it was a little hard for the older girl to get her brain to function correctly.

 _What the hell is this?_ Rachel thought with unconcealed shock. Because even though Bella wasn't focusing on her, Rachel could still feel the effects of Bella's stare. It was like in the five days Bella had been missing, she had gotten even sexier, but in a dangerous, can't-stay-away sense. And did Rachel see even more defined muscle now? Seriously, what did Bella do while she was away, train for a marathon?

"Em?" Bella repeated, her voice silky and almost hypnotic. Bella reached out to wrap an arm around Emily and pull her closer, and Emily almost melted into her. "You understand that I have my reasons, right? I mean, I'm all better now, so you know I had to leave for a reason."

All Emily could do was nod dumbly, and she got a wicked smile in return.

With that done, Bella turned to focus her attention on Rachel, but Rachel quickly turned away. "Just get ready for school. There's no way in hell I'm going to let you skip another day, because at this rate, you're not going to graduate."

"Yeah, of course," Bella agreed, setting Emily aside as she got to her feet. She strode over to her dresser with a graceful, predatory lope that had both Emily and Rachel staring after her, and then proceeded to get undressed, then dressed, without a hint of modesty. Of course, both girls had seen her naked many times before in their time together, but most girls would still at least hesitate. However, modesty had never been a word in Bella's dictionary, and she also enjoyed getting ogled by Emily and Rachel so openly, which was a bonus.

It was just as she was going to put on her shoes that a howl echoed through her head, and Bella froze. Immediately, she knew what was happening, and knew something had to be done about it.

"Bella? What's wrong?" Emily asked with a frown of worry, realizing something was up.

"Ah, uh...nothing. Just don't want to be late for school." Without another word, Bella took off, down the stairs and out of the house without looking back.

"Wait, Bella, your back-" Emily started to shout as she ran after the younger girl, holding up the backpack in question. However, when she caught sight of Bella just before disappearing through the trees, she dropped the backpack with a sigh and said, "She's not going to school, is she?"

"Nope," Rachel replied with a scowl.

Regardless of how hot Bella was, she was going to pay for everything the second Rachel got her hands on her.

* * *

Bella was running through the forest pretty damn fast, stripping as she went. She was down to only a bra and underwear once again when she thought, _Just fuck it_ and shifted into her wolf. Immediately, just by tasting the panic and other rollercoaster emotions, she knew who the new wolf was; Sam Uley.

 _Sam, you need to calm down. Freaking out just makes everything worse._

 _Bella? Bella, is that you? What are you doing inside of my head?_

 _Baking brownies, what the fuck do you think I'm doing, dipwad? Now just shut up and stay still, I'll be there soon._

Sam must have taken Bella's words to heart, because he really did shut up. Bella started to enjoy the power she was going to have over the older dickhead, until Sam decided to break his silence.

 _What did you just call me? And what do you mean, you have power over me?_ Sam demanded, sounding a little pissed off.

Damn it, the elders didn't tell her that other wolves would be able to hear everything she thought. They really needed to come up with a guidebook or some shit.

 _The elders? What do they have to do with this?_ Sam asked, and as he spoke, he seemed to be calming himself down. Which meant Bella had even more access to his brain, what he saw, what else he thought, and fuck, did Bella not like it. She was definitely going to find a way to make her mind a little more private.

 _I told you I'd explain things when I get there, didn't I? So just wait a few more minutes, or else you'll piss me off, and we'll be at each other's throats even more than usual._ As she thought this, she picked up the pace. She seriously just wanted to get this over with. For fucks sake, of all the boys she'd have to be stuck with first, it had to be Sam Uley?

 _I heard that,_ Sam said, but didn't say anything else. He seemed abnormally subdued, which would have worried Bella, had she not known that Sam had to deal with the fact that he just turned into a werewolf.

 _A werewolf? I am?_ Sam asked, starting to get a little freaked out again.

 _Damn it Sam, stay out of my head!_

 _Like I want to be there in the first place. I'd get out if I could!_

Letting out a frustrated growl as Bella realized he was right, seeing as she couldn't stop hearing what was in his head either, so she focused on getting to Sam as fast as possible. And just to be mean, she started playing crappy elevator music in her head, just for him.

 _You're such an ass,_ Sam growled at me as Bella finally found him, all but running him over in the process.

 _Yeah, I know. And it only makes me sexier,_ Bella replied with a mental evil grin, making the older boy groan in annoyance. She took a moment to check him over, examining the huge black wolf he was that was nearly as big as she was. Done with the observation, Bella decided to just jump right into her explanation. _Okay, now here's all the fucked up shit we have to go through thanks to our ancestors..._ And just like that, she gave him all the not-too-dirty details. But of course, being lazy, she left out everything she deemed not too important and focused on the major details. The elders could fill him in on the rest, seeing as they had also told Bella they expected her and the other wolves to go on patrols to make sure no vampires were breaching our territory. Because who wouldn't want to do something fun when they could just run around in circles?

By the time Bella was done, Sam looked to be in information overload. Unlike her, however, he seemed to focus pretty easily on the whole duty part of the thing. _We were chosen, Bella. If vampires really are such a threat that normal people can't even hurt them, then we have to protect the tribe at all costs._

 _Why did I know that you were going to say that?_ Bella grumbled, but also knew he was right. If a vampire really was going to attack La Push, she damned well wasn't going to let them get away with it. While these people could be a serious pain in the ass, they were a pain in _her_ ass, and she was the only one allowed to fuck with them.

 _But still, the Cullens...who would have guessed that they would be the reason behind all this?_

Now that Sam brought it up, Bella gave the Cullens more thought. Wasn't Carlisle a doctor at the hospital? He seemed like a good guy the one time Bella had met him. But to think, that they were all a bunch of leeches...sure, they tried to be good, but they still had to kill to survive, and they would always crave humans. That was kind of fucked up. Why couldn't they be more along the line of those sexy vampiresses like in all of those cheesy romance novels Bella would never admit to reading?

 _Leeches, huh? Yeah, that describes them perfectly. And you read romance novels?_ Sam actually sounded like he was holding back laughter, and his wolf was chuffing.

God damn it. Sam had better watch his own mind from now on, because the second she heard something embarrassing, Bella was going to use it for blackmail. Her thoughts were apparently pretty dark for the other wolf, because Sam immediately shut up.

 _So...do you know who else is going to become a wolf? We should keep an eye on them, after all,_ Sam said after a brief silence.

 _No idea. I've been throwing a tantrum in the forest for the last five days,_ Bella replied breezily. Apparently the packs had never gotten that big, and now that there were two of them, that meant they only had, what, four or five more wolves to go at most?

 _Well, isn't that mature,_ Sam thought, and Bella could sort of tell he had meant to keep the thought to himself. That didn't stop her from swiping at him with a paw, knocking him over. Sam didn't even complain as he climbed to his feet, but then he paused, leaning towards Bella to sniff at her. _Hey...you smell really good._

 _Ew. Never say that again,_ Bella replied, stepping away from him with a warning growl. _And don't you have a fiance? How low do you have to go to flirt on the lesbian when you have her to fuck?_ Bella gave an internal evil smirk. _Or are you so bad in the sack that she's doesn't even want to give you some?_

Immediately, Sam started to panic. _No, wait, I didn't mean you as in you, I mean that there's another scent that's clinging to you...that's what smells good._ Then the rest of Bella's words registered, and he bristled. _And I make sure Leah is quite satisfied, asshole._

 _Uh huh, sure._ In the distance, a cell phone rang, distracting both wolves. Bella let out a wolfy sigh. _And that would be for me. Wonder who called?_ She started to head toward where she had shed her clothes, Sam following right behind her. When they got to the place where the clothes had been abandoned, Bella turned around, baring her teeth and glaring at Sam. _Turn around now, or I'll tell Leah you've been checking out other women. And keep your eyes closed while you're at it._

 _Alright, alright._ Bella could almost feel the eyeroll as Sam turned away, and Bella quickly shifted back and got dressed. Damn it, it was from Emily. Bella guessed they realized she wasn't going to school. Seriously, sometimes it felt like Emily was more of a mother than her lover. Having missed the call, Bella called Emily back. She couldn't even get a hello out of her mouth before Emily was speaking.

"If you're going to skip school, can't you at least have the decency to at least make it look like you're actually going to school so we can have a clear conscience?" As Emily spoke, Bella caught Sam's head whipping towards them. A second later, he let out a low whine, eyes glued to where Bella stood. What the hell?

"Sorry Em, something came up," Bella answered, giving Sam the _what the fuck are you doing?_ Look.

"Uh huh, sure. Where are you now? Either I'm going to come get you, or you're coming to me. I'm not letting you drop out of high school, got it?"

"Yeah, yeah, I know. Where are you? I'll be there in a minute." After Bella dealt with whatever was eating at Sam, that is. After being told Emily would be at Bella's house to wait for her, Bella quickly hung up and turned to Sam. "What the hell is up with you now?" Of course, all Bella got in response was a lot of anxious whining and pawing at the ground, so Bella knew she'd have to shift back. She made him turn back around so he wasn't looking, then pulled off her clothes and shifted.

 _Was...was that Emily?_ Sam asked, a strange tone to his voice.

 _Yeah, why? Didn't you know I was sleeping with her?_ Bella asked curiously, but without any kind of hostile or taunting emotion to her voice. So she was surprised when Sam snarled and lunged at her, snapping his teeth, even his wolf riled up. Bella got ready to rise to meet the challenge, but just as quickly Sam had lowered himself, whining apologetically, submitting himself to Bella. Seriously though, what the fuck?

 _I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me. I just...something is...I can't explain it,_ Sam said helplessly. _Can you tell me how to shift back?_

 _Okay…_ Bella stared at him for a moment, and decided since she didn't know what the fuck was going on, she'd just make the elders tell her later. _You have to imagine yourself shifting back. You know, becoming human again and all that shit._ Bella gave him a sort of visual, then shifted back herself and dressed, once again with Sam averting his eyes. Sam shifting back took a few minuted, but Sam managed to shift back-and Bella ended up getting an eyeful of something she never wanted to see.

"AHH, my eyes!" Bella yelped as she spun around and covered her eyes with her hands. "Oh, god, why do I never think things through? Damn it, Sam, you don't even have any clothes, do you?"

"No," Sam sighed. "I really should have asked you to get some first."

"Shift back. Just shift back," Bella all but pleaded. "I don't-oh, ew, I'm never going to get that image out of my brain."

"Okay, okay," Sam grumbled. "I'll go back to my place and get some clothes, and I'll meet up with you in about five minutes."

"Why do you have to meet up with me at all? Can't we talk about this later tonight? Emily's going to have a fit if I ignore her," Bella replied, still not daring to uncover her eyes or glance Sam's way.

"I...I don't know," Sam muttered, and Bella could hear the haunted confusion in his voice. "I just need to go with you. Need to…"

 _Oh, fuck me. Don't tell me that being alpha meant the other wolves wanted to follow me everywhere,_ Bella thought. "Fine, I'll see you soon. Now I'm out of here. Damn it, I'm going to need to find a way to scrub my brain or some shit. I need to get the image of your dick out of my head."

"It is pretty unforgettable, isn't it?" Sam said smugly, making Bella want to snarl at him even though she was still human. However, by the time Bella had stupidly turned around to say a few choice words, Sam had already shifted and fled.

"Less than an hour, and I already feel like I'm gonna kill him," Bella muttered with a shake of her head before starting to jog back to her own home. A part of Bella wished it took longer to get there, because she was immediately faced by a clearly irate Emily waiting outside, in Bella's backyard no less. Her arms were crossed over her chest and she was already glaring, clearly waiting for Bella to arrive and knowing that Bella would try to sneak in through the back. The only good news was that Rachel was nowhere to be seen, because she would have torn Bella a new asshole.

"Hey, Em," Bella said, a little warily, as she came up to Emily and opened her arms for a hug.

"Don't you 'hey, Em' me," Emily said, smacking Bella in the chest and once again frowning when she only managed to make her hand ache. "What is with you avoiding going to school? Do you know how hard it is to get a job even when you're a high school graduate, let alone a high school dropout…" And so Emily's lecture continued. It was clearly going to be a long one, so Bella sighed and sat on the ground, pulling Emily down with her, right into her lap. Emily blushed a bright red, but still continued to lecture. A lecture that Bella quickly tuned out of. However, she wasn't so tuned out that she didn't notice when Emily's voice came to an abrupt end.

Glancing up in confusion, Bella caught Emily with a confused and nervous look on her face as she stared at something over Bella's shoulder. No, not something-someone. And that someone was Sam. Sam, who was currently standing at the edge of Bella's backyard. Sam, who had a tense, strained look on his face, his entire body trembling with his gaze locked onto Bella and Emily, his wolf looking ready to burst out of him any moment.

Confused, Bella stood, picking Emily up with her, and set the woman on her feet. "Uh, Emily? Sam? What's up?" Bella asked, knowing that there was something seriously weird going on.

"I...I don't know," Sam answered as Emily looked away with a blush. He seemed to have calmed down a little, as he was no longer trembling, but his entire body was still clearly tense. "She...she's just…"

Bella glanced at Emily with a frown, actually able to smell Emily's arousal and attraction, a scent that had grown much stronger since she had been on Bella's lap. It wasn't too strange, since Bella had always known Emily was bi. However, what was strange was that Emily, sweet and straight-laced Emily, was so openly desiring her cousin's fiance. And that said fiance was also staring at Emily as if he was staring at the love of his life. And that love of his life was suddenly Emily and not Leah.

Just like that, Bella remembered one of the old stories, telling of something just like this. Something rare that only a handful of the Quileute wolves got to experience, something considered a gift from the spirits themselves.

Holy fuck. Sam just imprinted on Emily.


	3. Chapter 3

_Author's Note: On a roll, so here's the next chapter. Also, the poll's been officially closed, and it's decided that Bella/Rosalie is going to be the pairing, although the race between Rosalie and the Volturi Queens was close. Just so everyone knows, I am thinking about adding someone else in the mix later on, so of course I'm still open to ideas. Thanks to everyone who voted!_

* * *

Chapter 3

The next few weeks were a crazy time for Bella. Not only did she lose Emily as a lover, but Sam broke up with Leah and started dating Emily instead. Of course Bella felt bad for Leah, but the girl was beyond pissed and scary to even try to talk to. To top it off, Bella suddenly had to deal with both Jared and Paul, who had shifted rather suddenly. While Jared was a pretty cool guy, and one of Bella's friends, Paul was such a grumpy assface that Bella found herself tripping the guy whenever she got the opportunity, just to fuck with him. The only good thing that came out of suddenly having two more guys in the pack was that the Elders promised to keep an eye out for other soon-to-be-shifters as well, since four kids couldn't keep an eye on the whole fucking rez.

Patrols were also set up, and not once did Bella or any of the boys lay an eye or nostril on a vampire, although Bella found herself spending a lot of time hanging with the boys even when they weren't doing pack duty. Which lead Bella to two complete fuckeries coming into her life; one being that the elders set up a meeting with the head Cullen vamp, Carlisle, to have a meeting at the border so they could remind each other of the rules. The other fuckery was the fact that people now, for some reason, thought Bella was the leader of some new gang.

The elders didn't even care how much this fucked with Bella's life. After all, now people were scared of her and avoided her, even at school. And while chicks dug badasses, they didn't really dig people who they thought were gun waving psychos. Not to mention the shit Bella got from Rachel for becoming a gang leader, and then there was also the fact that Bella had to deal with Emily.

Oh, Emily. Emily, Bella's old lover. Emily, Sam's new lover and Sam's ex fiance's cousin. Emily, who now knew the pack secret and who now mothered Bella without any lust, and who accidentally upset Sam every time she did so because neither he nor Bella could stop remembering how much time Emily had spent in Bella's bed-or, as Bella pointed out, how much time Bella spent inside of Emily, since they actually hadn't fucked in Bella's bed that much. And it wasn't made any easier by the fact that Paul just loved bringing up the fucked up situation.

Everything was just so tense now, and Bella was pretty damn grumpy since she was now short a lover and Rachel wasn't having as much sex with her in an attempt to get Bella to "change her dangerous ways." Really, she didn't think things could get any worse.

Until they did.

To make it simple, Sam and his wolf's jealousy exploded. Emily and he got in a fight, a fight that went much too far, and Sam shifted right next to her. Basically, Sam ended up shifting too close to Emily, therefore hurting her-badly. And the only warning Bella got was an anguished howl in the middle of patrol.

 _Fuck! Sam, what happened?_ Bella demanded, immediately calling to Jared and Paul as she swerved away from the border and headed in the direction of the distraught wolf.

 _I...I didn't mean to. I just, I was angry, upset, jealous, I-_ At that moment, Bella got a flash of how Emily looked through Sam's eyes, and her heart dropped. After all, while Emily wasn't Bella's lover anymore, she still cared for Emily a lot.

 _Shit, Sam, didn't peg you for abusive,_ Paul commented, and Bella sent a mental snarl his way.

 _Shut up, Paul! Sam, shift back, run her to the tribe doctor!_ Bella ordered. _Jared, I want you running to the doctor as well. You're closer, so you can shift back and warn them that Emily's coming. Say it was a bear attack._

 _Got it, Boss,_ Jared replied, and then he was gone.

Bella and Paul arrived at where a crying Sam was craddling and stumbling with a badly bleeding Emily, trying to run in the direction of the doctor. Barely able to contain her rage, Bella used her teeth to gently snatch up Emily, and Paul helped her get Emily safely onto Bella's back.

 _Get Sam,_ was all Bella thought, and then she was running.

Unlike Emily, Paul wasn't gentle with Sam. He grabbed Sam by the back of his neck, only just remembering not to grip Sam too tightly to risk breaking Sam's skin, and ran after Bella. Sam started to struggle, saying he could run by himself, so Paul dropped Sam on the ground, never breaking stride. A second later, Sam was running in wolf form beside him.

They arrived at the doctor's quickly to find Jared waiting for them. Bella dropped low so Jared could grab Emily and bring her inside. Sam, still in emotional turmoil, seemed ready to shift back and join her inside. However, it was at that moment that Bella's restraint snapped, and her fury was unleashed. She whirled on Sam and lunged, slamming into the black wolf. He went flying backwards into the woods, and didn't even have time to stand before Bella was on top of him.

 _How could you fucking lose control like that?!_ Bella roared. _You could have killed her! What kind of man are you?_

 _Shit,_ was all Paul managed to think as he stared, wide eyed, at his alpha and beta. Sam, on the other hand, couldn't do anything other than cry and whine. He didn't even try to struggle or get Bella off of him. He just let himself be attacked and beaten up. It was only when Bella had her teeth around Sam's throat, her eyes still dark with her fury, that someone snapped into action. And that someone was Jared, who had heard the commotion and rushed out to make sure everything was alright. Seeing the scene, he shifted and jumped at Bella, knocking the alpha off of Sam. Bella whirled on him, snapping, ready to attack Jared as well. However, Jared was already on his back, submitting, which helped calm Bella down.

 _You were going to far, Bella. I'm sorry, but I won't let you do anything too stupid,_ Jared told her, baring his throat for the taking.

Bella glanced from Jared to Sam, who was bloodied and looked to have a broken bone or two, and she realized just how pissed she had been. Letting out a sigh as she worked to control her anger, Bella told Jared, _No, don't apologize. Thanks for stopping me._ Jared gave an awkward nod and rolled back to his feet. Bella then focused on Sam, who took more time to stand and shake himself off. _Emily needs someone by her side right now, and that should be you. You are her imprint, after all._ Bella added grudgingly. _And when she's feeling better, you're going to take whatever she gives you without complaint, understand?_ There was no other option but for Emily to live, after all.

 _Of course,_ Sam replied, still subdued. Then he turned and ran, hopefully to change first instead of surprising their doctor completely nude.

Bella took a deep breath, then turned back to Jared and Paul. _Guys, I really think this shows how dangerous our tempers are. We need to work on control from now on; especially you, Paul._

 _Yeah, yeah,_ Paul grumbled, not even trying to deny that he had the worst temper out of all of them.

 _Good. Now, I'm going to go back on patrol._ Anything to get Bella's mind off of Emily possibly fighting for her life. _Jared, stay here with Sam, tell me when Emily wakes up. Paul, you patrol along the northern border._ That would be the opposite side of where Bella had planned on patrolling, which meant they'd complete the lap around the rez much quicker.

 _Got it,_ the two wolves chorused, and then they went off to do what Bella told them to. And let Bella say, it felt good to be the boss.

Bella heard Jared snort at Bella's thoughts, but chose to be the bigger wolf and ignore it. Instead of retaliating like she usually would have done, she took off to finish patrolling the border.

She had just finished the patrol, and considered doing it again just to keep focusing on something that wasn't Emily, when she heard loud laughter coming from the beach. Curious as to who was making so much noise when it was already dark out, not to mention she wanted to know why she wasn't invited, Bella shifted back to her human shape and quickly pulled on her shirt and pants. No underwear, of course, as she now had a totally valid reason not to wear them, and if the elders found out, they couldn't give her shit about it.

Fully dressed, she ran a hand through her naturally messy hair, then jogged towards the beach. When she arrived, she found out that the usually quiet beach was filled with townies, townies of the teenage variety. Among them was Jake, who always tried to show off for girls, and as always, was doing a pretty crappy job of it. Bella had to laugh at the hand gestures he was making while talking to a rather tall brunette.

She stepped out of the shadows, wanting to sneak attack the kid, and immediately, nearly all eyes were on her. Of course, Bella knew she was gorgeous, and she attracted attention wherever she went. However, the boys, and girls for that matter, seemed more hypnotized then usual. Maybe the wolf thing really did add to her charisma or some shit-Rachel had mentioned that Bella had gotten hotter recently, her now clearly toned body aside.

Ignoring the stares, Bella creeped up on Jacob, unable to hide her evil smirk. Jake was apparently in the middle of telling the girl some spooky legends of the rez when Bella pounced with a loud, terrifying growl.

Jacob screamed and fell backwards, arms pinwheeling, and landed on his back in the sand. Bella crouched next to him, laughing her ass off, as Jake glared up at her. However, he soon couldn't keep a straight face either, and he laughed openly as he sat up and shook the sand out of his hair.

"Hey Jake, fancy meeting you here. Now, who's your friend-" At the moment Bella turned her head towards the girl, the wind shifted, causing the smell of sugary bleach to all but smack her in the face. Bella fought not to wrinkle her nose as she stared curiously up at the girl, wondering what horrible perfume the girl had bathed herself in. Either that, or the girl was a sugar addicted clean freak, because the scent was even overwhelming her natural smell.

"Bella, this is Angela. Angela, Bella," Jacob said as he sat back down on the log he had been sharing with the girl. "By the way, Ange, you better watch out; Bella here's dangerous."

Bella shot Jacob a dirty look. "For the last fucking time, I'm not a gang leader!"

Jacob only rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, I know; although I have to say, you must've at least gotten into a fight or something to get Sam _and_ Paul under your thumb." Bella just glowered at the boy, silently fuming, which made Jake sigh. "Besides, I wasn't talking about the whole gangster rumor shit, I was talking about how you're a predator."

"A predator?" Angela asked quietly as Bella felt a flash of alarm. Shit, did he know? He was Billy's son, after all. Did this mean…?

"Yeah, she's a complete wolf...chasing and preying on any girl she can get her hands on," Jake said, wiggling his eyebrows.

For a moment, Bella blinked in surprise as she realized what Jacob was talking about. A part of her felt a pang of loss, as she realized she had all but forgotten her old ways. Even though it hadn't even been three weeks since she shifted for the first time, she had completely lost her old way of life. Having lost Emily to Sam and only having one lover, yet not looking for another was proof of that.

Shit, Emily. Bella still hadn't gotten any more news on her…

Pushing those thoughts to the back of her mind, she sat next to Jake on the log and slugged him in the shoulder. She had apparently forgotten to moderate her strength, because Jacob winced and rubbed his arm. "Stop talking crap. Besides, you know my preference is towards older women; Rachel can definitely attest to that."

"Oh, I know," Jacob said, making a face. "And can you please stop bringing up the fact that you're fucking my sister."

On the other side of Jacob, Bella heard a giggle from the quiet girl. Bella would have grinned for making the girl laugh, but once again, that nasty sweet smell coming from the girl pretty much ruined it.

"Uh oh, better look out Bells, you're getting checked out by at least three different guys," Jacob whispered, becoming a little serious as he warned his friend.

Bella scoffed. "Big deal. If they try anything, I say no. If they don't understand no, then I politely decline their come-ons with my fists. They're no big deal." Although being able to smell their nasty arousal from here was definitely a problem.

"That's what I'm afraid of," Jacob muttered under his breath, but Bella could still hear him clearly. Bella almost shot something back in rebuttal, before realizing normal people might have heard some muffled words at best. Damn it, it was hard to keep this shit a secret.

"So what are you guys talking about?" Bella asked, changing the subject.

"Oh, just the old legends. Angela here was interested in them," Jake said, gesturing to the girl in question.

"Is that so?" Bella asked, focusing her attention on the girl, who blushed under Bella's gaze. Why would this girl want to hear those old stories?

"Yes. I'm just curious," Angela said, almost as if she was hiding something. Actually, Bella was certain she was hiding something, because the girl was clearly a crappy liar. However, before Bella could check into Angela a little more, her phone buzzed.

"Hold on a sec," Bella said, pulling the phone out of her pocket. It was a text from Jared reading _Emily's recovering well, life not in danger. Elders know and want to talk to you._ Shit. Well, thank the gods, then shit. After all, Emily was going to be alright, but now, for some reason, the elders wanted to talk to Bella. They couldn't blame her for this, right? Then again, at the very least Quil Sr tended to blame Bella for anything, so who knew what the fuck was up. Sending back an affirmative, Bella got to her feet. "Sorry guys, gotta go."

"Already?" Jacob asked, clearly surprised. Bella had, after all, been known to enjoy partying.

"Yeah," Bella all but grumbled. "I have duties now, shit to take care of…"

"Huh?" Jake asked, clearly confused.

Bella just shook her head. "It's nothing." She almost left, but then remembered that the Black's bloodlines was supposedly the strongest. Figuring she might as well check on Jake now, she gave him a quick hug and inhaled as she did so. While the temp thing was hard to tell since they were sitting next to a fire, Bella did think that Jacob smelled a little different. Not enough to be sure, though.

"Did you just smell me?" Jacob asked, a little weirded out over his friend's strange behavior.

"Don't be a dick; when I'm close to you I try _not_ to breathe, not the other way around. Don't want your stench clogging up my nose," Bella replied, smacking him upside the head as she let go.

"You're such a-"

"Uh huh, yeah, I know. Now I've seriously gotta go, don't do anything I wouldn't do," Bella said as she started to walk away.

"So that means I can fuck all the girls, even all at once, huh?" Jacob said, sounding mighty pleased with himself.

"I heard that!" Bella shouted, but didn't stop walking towards the woods. If she did, then Quil Sr would bitch at her for being late after all.

"You were supposed to!" Jacob shot back, so Bella flipped him off. She heard a little snippet about how Angela was happy to see that Jake had such good friends, and then Bella was running full speed towards the elder's little meeting hut.

She arrived there quickly enough, but by the look on Quil Sr's face, the five minutes it took Bella to get there was five minutes too long. How was she supposed to make this man happy, by learning to teleport? She honestly had the urge to fuck with him, he was getting on her nerves so much. But that was easier said than done since the old fart had no daughters to seduce and any property damage done to his stuff would easily be pinned on Bella, even if Bella didn't even do it.

"What's new?" Bella asked casually as she strode into the meeting hut like she owned the place, the elders forced to trail after her.

"We have a lot to discuss, Bella," Charlie started with a sigh, sitting across from his daughter, who just plopped down in a chair and put her bare feet on the table.

"If this is about Emily-"

"It isn't," Billy interrupted, surprising Bella immensely. "Although what happened to her was unfortunate, we can already tell you have dealt with the incident and used it to strengthen your pack. There is nothing more to be said."

"Then why am I here?" Bella asked, crossing her arms over her chest. She didn't like that they called what happened to Emily an "incident" but she decided now wasn't the time to bring it up.

"You're here because we have two things to discuss, one being the Cullens," Billy said.

"What about them?" Bella asked, cocking her head to the side as she eyed the man up and down. She half expected them to blame her for not meeting with them sooner, even though they were the ones who put the meeting off. Some stupid shit about wanting to wait until Bella had more wolves to enforce the treaty in case the Cullens tried to break it.

"We have set a time and place to meet; at the border between the two territories at four o'clock, three days from now. You will go there and bring the pack with you after the school day ends," Quil Sr said in a bossy voice that made Bella just want to smoosh his face in.

"Why now? Didn't you say you wanted to wait until I had more wolves?" Bella asked, turning to look at her dad, because continuing to talk to Quil Sr would seriously try her patience, even before she had shifted into a wolf.

"Well, yeah. This brings us to our second bit of news," Charlie said, awkwardly scratching at the back of his head. And after that, no one said anything for a long moment, at least until Bella broke the silence.

"And that is…?" Bella pressed, wanting to get everything over with.

Billy cleared his throat. "It seems that Embry, Seth, and Leah are showing signs of shifting soon. That's three new wolves in your pack."

"Not to mention Jake's starting to smell funny too," Bella added without a thought, making Billy's eyes go wide. However, Bella didn't notice his reaction, instead replaying what Billy had said. Embry, Seth, and _Leah._ As in, Leah who just lost her fiance and is storming around looking ready to kill someone. The Leah who might soon end up in Bella's pack, connected to the mind link, forced to not just be around Sam and Emily, but who would also learn the reason why they broke up.

"Gods damn it all!" Bella cursed, making many of the elders gasp. Not that Bella cared; she was too focused on her soon-to-be charges and her new duties. Not only would she have to meet the Cullens in three days, but to have to deal with four new wolves coming along, and Leah, and Emily, and Sam...vampires and werewolves and love shit...not to mention Rachel, who was still on her ass for being a gang leader, and the fact that, with four new people forced into the pack so suddenly, there was no way Bella could keep playing their situation as a group of friends for long...she was really going to be seen as a gang leader. A gang leader who, at this rate, might not get laid for a whole month.

Damn it. She was actually starting to feel sorry for herself.


	4. Chapter 4

_Author's Note: Hey, for some reason I couldn't stop writing this story, so here's the next chapter. I'll now try to work on updating my other stories soon._

* * *

Chapter 4

Since Bella didn't want to be ambushed in all sorts of ways, the very next morning, she was off to see Leah. What Bella was planning to do was ease into the woman's heart, at least to the point where Leah wouldn't feel the need to torture Bella for no reason, and therefore, ease Leah into the pack.

However, when she arrived at the house and rang the doorbell, Seth was the one to answer.

"Sup Bella?" Seth asked, a little uneasily, probably because the gang leader thing might actually be getting to him a little.

"Hey Seth, is Leah around?" Bella asked unnecessarily, as she could not only hear, but smell the woman who had to be somewhere upstairs.

"Ah, yeah. But I don't know if she's really in the mood for accepting visitors," Seth said, but still stepped aside so Bella could come in.

"Yeah, I figured as much." Bella sighed and pushed a hand through her hair as she looked around the house. "But I need to talk to her, and I can't keep putting this off." As she spoke, she patted Seth on the back, feeling his heated body under her hand. And when she took a deep breath, even at the small distance, she could smell the undercurrent of wolf. Damn it, the kid was only fourteen, and he was getting ready to shift soon? Who would have guessed the spirits would even drag little kids into this? "Thanks for the warning though."

"Uh huh." Seth shifted from foot to foot, then must have decided he did all he could, because he added, "She's upstairs."

"Thanks, kid," Bella said, ruffling Seth's hair as she passed by him and headed up the stairs. Halfway up the stairs her phone started ringing, and checking it, she found that it was Billy. Immediately, Bella hung up the phone and put it on silent. She was tired of the elders and their bullshit, and now that she was faced with the other disaster the imprinting caused, she was pissed off at how the elders hadn't bothered to handle any of the problems outside of the possible vampire threat and growing the pack's power.

Bella just hoped this imprinting thing never happened to her. If it did, she'd not only feel like she'd lose a part of herself, but she wasn't all too sure about how the person she imprinted on would feel.

Ugh. Bella must have thought just a little too much, because next thing she knew, she was at Leah's bedroom door. And even though the door was closed, the scent of another wolf was almost overpowering.

Oh yeah, Leah was going to shift alright, and soon.

Hesitantly, Bella knocked on the bedroom door, and was surprised once again when Leah didn't answer it, but Rachel did, nearly giving Bella a heart attack. But a quick sniff made Bella realize that Rachel was definitely human and in no danger of shifting, and that the soon-to-be wolf was definitely Leah.

"Bella? What are you doing here?" Rachel asked, immediately scowling at the sight of the taller girl. Damn it, and Bella didn't even do anything wrong yet. Wait a second, did she? Bella guessed she could have done something, but then again…

"Bella? As in Bella Black?" Leah's sharp voice sounded from inside the room. "What the hell is she doing here?" As Leah demanded this, she stood up, and Bella couldn't help but look her over. After all, Bella had always thought that Leah was hot, and had only stopped pursuing her when she became serious with Sam. And now that Leah was free again, despite the horrible situation, Bella couldn't help but look Leah over in a new light.

That is, until Rachel cleared her throat, turning Bella's attention back to her. "Now listen here, Bella," Rachel started, poking Bella in the chest. "It's because of your little...friend...that Leah is hurt like this, and on top of that, she's seriously fucking sick, almost as bad as you were. You do anything stupid to make things worse, and I'll have your ovaries, got it?"

"Y-yeah. Got it," Bella said, holding up her hands in surrender. "I promise to be on my very best behavior."

"You bet you will. And I'll be there to make sure you are," Rachel shot back, glaring up at Bella as if daring Bella to defy her. And damn, was it hot. So hot that Bella almost forgot the reason she wanted to see Leah in the first place.

"Sorry Rach, can't let you do that," Bella said, growing serious. "I need to have a private conversation with Leah, alone." Rachel opened her mouth to argue, but Bella stepped into Rachel's personal space, staring seriously, almost commandingly, into Rachel's eyes. And for some reason that Rachel couldn't understand, she deflated and nodded. Not to mention, she also grew a little bit hot with Bella's whole dominance display. Bella gave Rachel a small smile and caressed the older girl's cheek. "Thanks." Then Bella headed inside, closing the door behind her so that she and Leah would be alone.

Leah glared at Bella the second Bella came into the room. "What are you doing here, Black? Feeling guilty that you helped get your fuck buddy and my fiance together?"

"No, not really," Bella said, sitting on Leah's bed like she owned the room. She didn't mean to sound so casual and cocky, but she couldn't help it. The cockiness especially so, as that was a big part of the whole Bella package.

"Then why are you here? And why the hell isn't Rachel coming in?" Leah demanded. She grabbed a pillow and tried to hit Bella with it, adding, "And get off my fucking bed."

Bella easily grabbed the pillow and pulled it away, causing Leah to let out what sounded like a pretty angry wolf growl before lunging at Bella. Before Bella could even think it through, she grabbed Leah and rolled so that Leah was under her, before pinning her to the mattress. It had been all too easy for her, while Leah seemed seriously out of breath.

Now that Leah was so close, Bella got to see up close and personal how hard Leah was having it. There were bags under her eyes, and it looked like Leah hadn't slept in days. Not only that, but Bella got a vibe from Leah, and that vibe told Bella that Leah felt like crap.

"The reason Sam broke up with you is complicated," Bella blurted without thinking it through, causing Leah's lips to screw up in a grimace and pain to flash in her eyes. Leah started struggling more, but with Bella's superior strength, it was easy to keep her pinned.

For a moment Bella paused, wondering what to say. Yeah, she had originally showed up at Leah's door to help make things easier for Bella, but now, Bella wanted nothing more than to make things easier for Leah first. That's what made Bella decide, _screw the elders,_ and had Bella spilling some things she technically wasn't supposed to.

"One of the factors that led to Sam and Emily getting together...it's going to happen to you. And soon."

At that, Leah stopped struggling and stared up at Bella for a long moment, before letting out an incredulous laugh. "You don't know what the hell you're talking about. Emily had always had a thing for Sam, she just hadn't acted on it because she had you and I had him."

"What? Really?" Bella said with surprise clear in her voice, making Leah laugh some more.

"Like I said; you don't know shit," Leah said, but didn't try to struggle or push Bella off of her again.

Letting out a low breath, Bella whispered, "You feel like shit. Like you're on fire. Your entire body feels heavy, and you have a temperature that should kill people. You don't want to move, yet you eat like you're starving, and when you go to the tribe's doctor, they say that there's nothing wrong with you and send you back home."

This time, Leah actually looked a little freaked out. "How did you-?"

"I told you, didn't I? I know what you're going through. It happened to me and Sam and Jared and Paul...and soon, it's going to happen to you and Seth." Bella knew if the elders found out she was telling Leah this, they'd have her hide. But Bella was ready for that to happen, almost welcomed it at this point.

"Your little gang," Leah said with a hint of realization, like she was actually starting to believe what Bella was saying.

"Yeah, basically," Bella agreed. "And you know what else? At this very moment, Emily's at the tribe's doctor after having been badly hurt. Everybody is going to be told it's a bear attack, but it's not; Sam lost control of his temper and accidentally hurt Emily."

"What?" Leah sat up in alarm, and Bella sat back on her haunches, now basically straddling the other girl. "You can't be serious. I mean-"

"I am serious. I know I'm usually the exact opposite of serious, which hopefully means I'm actually going to get through to you because you know how I never get serious. Well, except for right now, obviously." Bella took a deep breath and let it out, shoving a hand through her hair. "I'm not supposed to be telling you any of this. If the elders find out, I'm going to be beyond fucked."

"Then why are you?" Leah asked.

"Because you already got fucked over once and don't look like you're going to be recovering anytime soon," Bella replied honestly. There was just something within her that made her want to help Leah, and Seth too. "And I don't want you being thrown into an even more fucked up situation without any knowledge about what's going on."

"So, what exactly is going on?" Leah asked, reaching out to absently stroke Bella's arm. Unknowingly to both Bella and Leah, Leah was being drawn in by Bella's alpha sexiness, and Leah was all too willing to go along with it.

Bella hesitated. "If I tell you that part, there's no way in fuck you'll believe me. Hell, _I_ didn't believe it when it happened to me. But I'll be here. Here for you, and Seth. So that when it does happen to you guys, you won't be alone."

"Hm," was all Leah replied as she tried to push Bella. Only she wasn't trying to push Bella off of her, but actually trying to push Bella onto her back.

Of course, Bella wasn't going to be the one being dominated or told what to do in any way. So she stayed still, catching both of Leah's wrists and pinning them above her head. _Wait a second,_ Bella realized just as she considered going further. _Rachel. Rachel told me not to do anything stupid. And fucking Leah's brains out probably qualifies as stupid. Right?_

"What are you thinking about?" Leah asked as she squirmed, trying to get some kind of friction. After all, the stories of Bella's fucking ability was all but legendary, and that's what Leah felt she needed right now; a really good fuck.

"Rachel," Bella started to explain.

At that, Leah deflated, feeling a little bit horrified about what she was going to do. "Oh, right. Rachel...Rachel's been there for me more than anyone, this entire time. There's no way I'm going to screw her over like I was." Rachel had actually been Leah's lifeline. She visited Leah everyday since Sam broke up with her, offering her support, making Leah laugh. How could Leah ever backstab one of the few good people in her life like that?

"No, I didn't mean it like that. Rachel and I aren't anywhere close to serious; we're just really good fuck buddies," Bella rushed to say. "What I meant was that Rachel told me not to do anything stupid with you. Whatever is about to go down between us probably classifies as stupid."

"Let me make sure," Leah said as she rolled onto her side, still under Bella, and grabbed her phone. She sent Rachel a quick text, asking if it was okay if she fucked Bella. The response was quick, telling Leah to go for it, but not to put her heart into it.

Bella also saw the text, and a predatory grin slid across her features. "Fuck yeah," she breathed, sitting up just long enough to pull her shirt over her head, gaining all of Leah's attention. In fact, Leah couldn't take her eyes off the other girl, who was suddenly bare from the waist up. Why wasn't Bella wearing a bra? Not that Leah was about to complain; the girl was beyond gorgeous.

"Hey," Bella added in a husky voice, leaning back over Leah as she reached for the hem of Leah's shirt. "How about we start getting you naked, too."

"Sounds like a plan," Leah replied saucily, lifting her upper body up just enough so that Bella could pull off her shirt and unhook her bra. As Bella reached for her pants, Leah reached up, grabbed Bella by the back of her head, and pulled the girl into a deep, hungry kiss.

After that, they fell deeply into passion, and Bella made Leah scream her name over and over again that night. It was the first night-long fuck Bella had in almost a week, and damn was she satisfied. However, even had she been on full alert that night, it wouldn't have prepared her for the next morning when she was woken up by Leah's groans of pain.

"Fuck," Bella said, eyes flying wide open as she realized just what was happening. Alarms bells were ringing throughout her head, so loudly that everything else was almost drowned out. "Fuck, fuck, fuck."

"Bella, what's going on?" Leah moaned, nearly overcome from the pain of her cramps.

"Fuck," Bella added one last time, just for her own benefit. "I've gotta get you outside, now." As she scooped Leah up into her arms and moved to jump out of the window, Bella heard a louder, much more urgent scream from downstairs. "Damn it all! Just fuck everyone over, why don't you?" Bella said to no one in particular as she changed her path, running downstairs.

Seth was quickly spotted lying on the kitchen floor half naked, sweating, and clearly in pain, with thankfully no mother in sight. Without pausing, Bella ran over, scooped Seth up, and threw him over her shoulder as she ran outside.

She didn't make it more than five feet out the door when Seth started to shift right on top of her, his claws actually starting to rip through Bella's shirt as well as Seth's own clothes.

"Sorry kid, but I've gotta protect you sister," Bella said, as Leah still wasn't shifting yet. She then threw Seth at least ten feet away, and he landed with a crash, having been thrown right into a tree. Whoops.

Bella quickly turned her attention to Leah as Seth fully shifted, letting out an angry snarl that quickly turned into confused yelps and whimpers. She set Leah on the floor as the other girl started to shift and took a step back.

"I'll be here when you're done, Leah," Bella swore, right before she shifted as well to try and calm the sandy colored wolf that was Seth down.

 _Wha-what's going on? Holy cow I have paws! I have a tail! Oh my god I have a tail!_ As Seth continued to yelp with his freakout, he started trying to get a better look of the tail that seemed to freak him out the most. For a moment, Bella couldn't help but stare in slack-jawed amazement; she never thought she'd see a wolf actually chase his tail before.

 _Seth!_ Bella snapped, putting the power of the alpha behind the word. It was enough to make the young boy's attention shift to her as his butt hit the ground.

Then, Leah regained Bella's attention as her groaning turned into confused growling. Bella padded over to her, nuzzling the brand new wolf gently. _Told you you probably wouldn't believe me. How you feeling?_

 _You...you're in my head,_ was all Leah could think to say, not even bothering to stand up. Instead, she stared down at her own paws, not sure what to make of the change.

Had Bella been human, she wouldn't have been able to hide her grimace. _Yeah, about that...you're about to go through all sorts of shit. I'm so sorry, Leah._

 _Wait, what do you mean?_ Seth spoke up then, standing back up. Bella felt a wave of protectiveness from the young boy, and in turn, felt a surge of pride from herself. After all, this was her wolf now.

 _I mean that all of the minds of the wolves are connected. And because of that, well…_ Bella started, trying to think of a way to break things to Leah gently.

 _Oh, fuck. Your gang,_ Leah muttered, coming to a sudden realization.

 _Yeah. Fuck is a good way to explain it,_ Bella said with agreement.

As if Bella had called him, Jared was suddenly part of the conversation, having just shifted. _Hey Bella-shit. Two new wolves?_

 _Jared?_ Seth asked in clear surprised.

 _Yeah, that's him. By the way Jared, Seth and Leah shifted, in case you didn't figure that out. What's up? Something going on, or are you just talking for the hell of it?_ Without even realizing it, Bella turned in the direction of Jared, despite not even seeing him. She just somehow knew Jared's location, despite how far away Jared was.

 _Oh, right. Emily wants to talk to you, pronto,_ Jared replied. _She's still at the doctor, and alone. Not sure how much longer she'll stay that way, though. Her parents are already raising hell._

Leah sat up, nearly startling Bella. _Shit. That actually happened to Emily?_

 _You talk like you don't believe me,_ Bella replied with mock hurt, before regrettably asking Jared, _And Sam?_

 _Still freaked out over what he did, and looking really pathetic now that Emily sent him away,_ Jared replied immediately, not sounding too upset about Sam being in such a state. It looked like, while he had been the one to stop Bella from all but killing Sam, he was pretty upset about what Sam had done too.

 _What? You almost killed Sam?_ Leah all but demanded, her head whipping around to stare at Bella. _Seriously?_

 _Holy shit,_ Seth added, sounding nothing but impressed.

Bella gave an awkward shrug. _I was seriously pissed, I'm alpha, and on top of that, wolves have seriously bad tempers,_ Bella tried to explain, the images of what she had done to Sam rising to the surface of her mind against her will. _No, damn it, stay down,_ she tried to tell the memories, but her stupid brain wouldn't listen. Leah, Seth, and Jared got to see everything.

 _Whoa,_ was all Seth could think of to say, and Leah looked equally stunned.

 _Let's stop thinking about this, cool? I need to go see Emily. Jared, can you run over here and work with Seth and Leah?_ Damn, there was so much fucking work to do when you were the alpha.

 _No problem, boss,_ Jared answered, and less than a second later, she could see Jared rushing through the forest.

 _Wait, Bella-_ Leah started, but Bella cut her off.

 _I'm really sorry about this. I swear Jared will explain everything,_ Bella hurriedly told the two wolves. _If you have any other questions later, I'll answer them as best as I can. Promise._ Because Bella knew, since she was alpha, she wasn't going to have to deal with the parents as well as Emily. The Elders had made it clear that everything supernatural would basically be on Bella's shoulders, after all.

Besides, she didn't want those old fuckers around Emily and her parents anyways. Knowing them, they'd make everything worse.

Ugh. Seriously though, when was Bella going to catch a break?


	5. Chapter 5

_Author's Note: Hey, here's the next chapter, hope you'll all enjoy. Also, please vote on the poll I have up for my next pairing, I want to know what my readers want. Anyways, thanks for reading, and as always, I love hearing what you all think._

* * *

Chapter 5

Bella arrived at the doctor's in record time, having shifted to human and dressed before walking out into the open. She strode into the doctor's like she owned the place, drawing all eyes, however few they were, to her.

Uncaring about what she looked like, Bella ignored everyone, focusing only on Emily. She found Emily's room by scent so she didn't have to ask for any directions, and without knocking, walked right into the room and plopped herself down on the foot of Emily's bed.

The woman's beautiful face was heavily bandaged, making Bella's heart jump up in her throat. Sure, Bella had seen Emily in such a bad state when transporting her, but she hadn't given much thought as to how bad the end result would be. God, Emily was going to have trouble looking in the mirror from now on. These were going to scar, scar badly, and whenever she saw them, it would be a reminder of what had happened.

Still, despite her horrible state, Emily still had a smile for Bella as the woman's eyes met hers. "Hey. You always have to make an entrance, don't you?"

Bella gave the girl a weak smirk, putting her hand on Emily's leg. "You know it. How're you holding up?"

"I'm doing okay, given…" Emily trailed off, a haunted glint in her eyes that made Bella want to beat Sam up all over again. Damn it, Bella got that the wolves had bad tempers, but how could he let this happen to her?

"Em, I'm so-" Bella started, but Emily cut her off.

"Don't. This isn't your fault." Emily took a deep breath, a breath that seemed to hurt her badly. Bella's hand found hers and squeezed, and then Bella didn't let go. Emily didn't either, seeming to take strength from Bella, even as neither spoke.

 _She's pack,_ Bella realized. Just as much as Jared and Paul and Seth and Leah and... _Sam,_ Emily was pack. And just like with the rest of her pack, Bella would do anything to protect her, whether she used to sleep with Bella-or might still sleep with her, given what happened. Bella wasn't sure, exactly, but it could maybe, possibly happen… Emily was really good in bed after all, and she could be pissed at Sam for a very, very long time… Damn it, Bella needed to get laid. This wasn't the time to think about that. Anyways, regardless of what happened with Emily, Bella would protect her as best as she could.

"You know, I've always had a crush on Sam," Emily started, shaking Bella out of her kinda confused thoughts. Emily offered Bella an apologetic smile. "No offense Bella, but while I loved you, I wasn't in love with you."

"No problem," Bella was quick to assure her. "I don't want love, I just want to be girls' hot hunk of love meat."

Emily let out a soft, pained laugh. And while it hurt Emily, the laugh also did her a lot of good. "God, does that sound nasty. Never say that again."

"No promises," Bella replied with a half smile, making Emily roll her eyes.

"Anyways, while I have always been beyond attracted to you, I had a huge crush on Sam. I've had one for years. But he was always dating my cousin, and I didn't want to come between them," Emily continued.

That made sense. Emily was always the type to think about others before herself. That's why she insisted on having herself, Bella, Rachel, and the other girl Bella had been sleeping with at the time sit down and have a long, drawn out talk about what everyone expected from sleeping with Bella. It had been awkward as fuck for Bella, but it was all done because Emily was afraid of anyone getting hurt. Of course, then that other girl, Katie something or other, went psycho obsessive on Bella, talking about marriage and shit, so not everything worked out, but still. Emily had definitely done the best that she could, and everything would have gone perfectly if it weren't for the damn townie.

"But then, the imprint happened." Emily gave her the stink eye, adding, "I knew something was going on with you, by the way. You're not very good with hiding things."

Bella shrugged, unrepentant. "I didn't care enough to try."

"Right." Emily sighed, smiling fondly for a moment, before growing serious again. "The imprint happened. It was so much stronger than a crush, Bella. I had always felt like Sam and I had a connection, but after he shifted and our eyes met...it was like that connection was strengthened tenfold, like he was suddenly my world. God, what I did to Leah...it hurts me just thinking about it, and I hate knowing how much she's hurting right now, and how much I'm putting her through. But even now, after all that happened, I still care about Sam. I always know where he is, even now; I just sense it. I'm mad at him, and I'm certainly freaked out, but I still...I know I'm going to forgive him. And even now, I'm still halfway in love with him."

Bella paused for a moment, deep in thought, then asked, "Let's say that this imprint thing never happened, but that you were dating Sam, married even. Would you still forgive him?"

Emily thought deeply for a moment, then sighed. "If he was abusive? No, even with the imprint. No matter how much I loved him, I wouldn't have stayed with him, and I certainly wouldn't have forgiven him. But, Bella...this really was an accident. You should have seen him, struggling for control, begging me to leave him, to run, to stay away." Emily met Bella's eyes, serious and sad. "I didn't listen, Bella. That's why everything happened."

Bella frowned. "We'll see about that." And Bella would, by having a deep look into Sam's memories. "For now, though...why did you call me here? What did you want to talk about?"

At that, Emily let out a surprised laugh, once again stopping when she winced in pain. "We're already talking about it." Then she sobered. "I just wanted to talk to you, make sure you don't try to kill Sam again, just...I don't know. But what I do know is that this talk has already helped me, even more than the medicine they keep shoving down my throat."

"Good to hear," Bella said. She gave the older girl a considering look. "Want me to stay a bit longer?"

"Yeah, that sounds nice," Emily said, smiling up at Bella as she squeezed Bella's hand, the hand she never once let go of.

And so Bella stayed with her, talking about random shit and all that, for over an hour. However, she knew she had to face the pack, the changes, and what's going to happen tomorrow with the Cullens, and Bella couldn't put that off forever. So she eventually stood up and said her goodbyes before walking out the door.

But not before hearing Emily whisper, "If I had fallen in love with you…"

Bella grimaced at the thought. While she would never admit it out loud, she was terrified of the idea of anyone falling in love with her. Terrified, because she was pretty sure that she would end up hurting that girl in some way, maybe even more than Sam hurt Emily.

So of course, the only thing Bella could do was pretend she didn't hear it and keep walking. And that she did, walking until she was in the trees and out of sight of anyone who might have been watching her. Then, she spent a good couple of minutes clearing her head, focusing on what was going to come. When she was finally centered, she took off her clothes, shifted, and let out one loud, powerful, badass alpha howl that would make all of her wolves react. And, if they knew what was good for them, they'd shift and come running like the good little pups they were.

 _I heard that,_ Paul complained, having shifted quickly enough to hear the last of Bella's thoughts.

 _Good, that means it'll be easier for you to remember your place,_ Bella retorted.

 _And if he doesn't, then we get to have fun beating it back into him,_ Jared added with relish, letting out a laugh when he felt Bella's agreement and Paul's sulky and clearly grumpy response.

 _Whoa, I'm still not used to this,_ Seth thought, sounding beyond overwhelmed as he also shifted. _Don't know if I ever will._

 _Just get your tails over here,_ Bella said, even though she could sense that they were all already running towards her. _Wait a second, where's Leah?_ Bella expected Sam to take his time, but not the other she-wolf.

Unbidden, memories rose in Seth's mind, memories that the whole pack got to see. Memories where Leah ran into a worried Rachel, who had no idea where Leah went or how she was doing after walking over to check on Leah only to find the house empty, when Leah and Seth had been jogging, thankfully clothed, back to their house. And finally, how Rachel and Leah's eyes had met, and how Leah had imprinted on Rachel immediately.

 _Nnnnoooooo!_ Bella cried in dismay, the word coming out in a long, drawn out howl. Of course, she was happy for Leah, but now this meant that Bella had no more girls to go to for sex. There was no one. And with everything going on, it was going to be a long time before she could leave long enough to get a new sex buddy. Even worse, she'd probably have to go out of town just to find someone, because she wasn't going to mess with the Forks townies again after what happened with Katie.

 _Dude, you slept with my sister?_ Seth yelped with clear dismay and disgust.

 _Wow, Bella, talk about skill,_ Jared said with a laugh.

 _At least now Rachel and Leah have some more in common,_ Paul jeered.

Thankfully, they were all saying this just as they all skidded to a stop in front of Bella, although they arrived a few seconds apart, so Bella got to smack both Paul and Jared with quite a bit of pleasure. Then, of course, she had to apologize to Seth for letting her thoughts get the best of her. That poor boy was probably going to be scarred for life.

 _Hey, what's with all the howling?_ Leah complained, although even her complaint sounded strangely happy.

 _Pack meeting,_ Bella said, unable to keep the sulky tone out of her voice. _We need to discuss what's going to happen now with Sam, not to mention the Cullens._

 _What's got you so down?_ Leah asked, easily able to sense Bella's mood.

 _Aw, it's nothing. Bella here just found out that she lost the last of her fuckbuddies,_ Paul said, unable to stop from snickering, which earned him another smack across the nose.

 _Oh. Right,_ Leah said, and Bella knew that the older girl would have blushed if she could. _Sorry about that Bella._

 _No problem; I'm actually happy for you. Although, if you're ever up to a three-_ Leah's protective snarl interrupted Bella's suggestion, and Bella sighed at the rejection. _Okay, got it. Damn possessiveness...I'm already sex-starved enough as it is._

 _Slut,_ Jared pretended to cough.

Bella sent a wolfy grin to one of her best friends. _You know it._ However, her thoughts quickly took a dark turn as Leah arrived, and Sam still hadn't so much as shifted yet. Just as she considered hunting him down and helping him come to realize that her howl meant _get the fuck over here,_ Sam joined them.

 _Sorry,_ was all Sam said as he immediately started loping over to join them, still sounding beyond distraught.

 _Yeah, well I am too,_ Bella added, not sounding sorry at all. Especially when she added, _Now, I want to see what happened when you fucked Emily up. Show me your memories. All those who don't want to see should shift back to human until I bark._

Nobody changed back, and Sam was quick to show his memories, not even requiring an alpha command. Bella grimly watched it all, and found that Emily was right. While the verbal fight had been sudden and Sam had gone into it pissed off, he realized he was losing control. Sam had ended up trying to get away from Emily, trying to control his wolf, begging her to give him time to calm down, but Emily wasn't having it, keeping the distance between them short as she scolded him for his jealousy. Sam hadn't even attacked her; all he had done was shift, and Emily had been so close that his claws, which was attached to an arm that was jerky because of the slight pain of shifting, had scored her by accident.

Despite that, Bella was still pissed. Sam had, after all, started arguing with Emily when he was already pretty angry, even knowing how bad a wolf's temper was. He didn't try to calm down first, or try to discuss things calmly. While he didn't mean to hurt her, he had set himself up for the disaster, and Emily was the one to pay the price.

 _You saw Emily?_ Sam asked as he joined the pack, sounding beyond desperate for even the smallest scrap of information regarding his imprint.

 _Yeah, I saw her. We had a nice talk too,_ Bella replied, but didn't feel like giving away any more information. Instead, she focused on the pack, saying, _I think you all know, thanks to the old legends and shit, that the Quileute Pack has not only an alpha, but a beta. Until now, I've gone along with Sam being that beta, simply because he was the second to shift and the Elders were encouraging it._ The start of Bella's little speech got everyone's attention. Bella felt like she was the queen of the gossip ring or some shit. _However, due to recent happenings and loss of control, I've decided to change this._ Bella turned her head, focusing completely on Jared. _Jared, you helped me keep my cool when all I wanted to do was kill Sam. On top of that, you've got a level head, but you're also just cool as fuck and not some stuck up loser._

Jared looked like he wanted to laugh at Bella's little comment, but he was clearly too nervous. _Bella, you don't mean…?_

 _Yeah, I mean it,_ Bella confirmed. _I trust you more than anybody else, you've proven that you're not a little pansy, and you've been in this whole wolf game nearly as long as I have. I want you to be my new beta._

 _I...yeah,_ Jared managed to say, sounding humbled and awed, just like Bella knew he would. _That's...that'll work. Thanks, Bells._

 _Good,_ Bella replied, pretty damned pleased with herself. She was about to focus on Sam to make sure she didn't have to do any stupid damage control, but then Paul broke out into howls, congratulating Jared and jostling him around quite a bit. That made everyone feel the need to congratulate Jared, but Bella still turned to Sam.

 _I don't blame you for this,_ Sam answered, before Bella could even ask her question. _I messed up, big time. I don't deserve to be beta._

 _I'm glad you feel that way; I was afraid I was going to have to beat it into you,_ Bella said, only half joking. Nobody else seemed to even notice their conversation, which was mostly drowned out by Jared's congratulations. So it was easy to change her thoughts and focus on the new topic. _Now, guys. GUYS._

Two tries. That was all it took for them to calm down. Which, once again, left Bella feeling like a badass.

 _We just have one last thing to discuss, and then patrols...and then you're free to do whatever the shit you want, until fucking morning patrols,_ Bella started.

 _We really need to make a schedule with shifts or some shit,_ Paul grumbled. _This all-day every day thing is wearing thin._

 _You're telling me,_ Bella said in agreement. But the elders insisted...she was starting to think it was a good idea to start telling them up theirs, but then who knows what would happen next. _Anyways, we'll make a schedule when one of us shows the ability to actually organize something. Until then, we're fucked._

 _Words of wisdom, Boss,_ Jared said dryly, to which Bella stuck her tongue out at him before focusing back on the pack as a whole.

 _Anyways, the Cullens. We're meeting them tomorrow, after school. The elders say that they're better than the average blood sucker because they don't kill humans, but they also clearly hate the Cullens with a fiery passion, so I think it's best we throw the elders' opinions right out the window._ Bella got some pretty strong agreement on that. _Still, we should stay on guard. We have no idea what we're up against, if they'll be hostile or not, and so on. All we know is that there's supposed to be eight of them, and that they're all a bunch of grannies in the bodies of teenagers, so they're going to be way more experienced than we are in fighting. Hell, they might have actually killed a vampire or two, compared to us noobs._

 _You're really failing to bring up morale, Bella,_ Leah said with a roll of her eyes, which also garnered a lot of agreement from the rest of the pack.

 _I'm not here to make you bunch of pansies feel better, I'm here to make sure none of you get cocky and do something stupid,_ Bella shot back, and just like that, everyone shut up. _Anyways, we'll meet up at my house right after school, wolf out, and go to the border from there. Be prepared for anything, keep in line, and don't let them provoke you._ Bella really didn't want the wolves' first fight to be against eight vamps, after all. She gave each of her wolves one last stare down before adding, _Got it?_

 _Got it,_ everyone confirmed.

 _Thank fuck._ Bella wasn't one to repeat shit after all, and she really didn't want to start now. _Well, now that everything's taken care of, you're all dismissed. Save for all of you losers who are on patrol, you guys are screwed for another hour or two. I'm going to take a nice long nap._

Bella got some good-natured ribbing in response, and everyone split up to go their separate ways. Bella did go home to take a nap as planned. Only, that nap lasted the entire night, and well into the morning. That night might have lasted into the afternoon, too, if it weren't for Charlie waking her up with a bucket of ice cold water to the face.

Swearing that she was going to get Charlie back for that later, Bella woke and struggled to get dressed, only to realize that today was the big day.

That's right. Today was the day that Bella and the wolves were supposed to meet with the Cullens. It would also be the first day Bella went to school since she shifted.

Realizing this, Bella tried to argue out of school with Charlie, but he wouldn't listen, so Bella found that she had no choice to actually go to school. To go, and be stared at with a mix of awe, lust, and fear by the entire student body for being a sexy-ass gang leader. What made everything so much better was that, unconsciously, Jared, Seth, and Paul were following her around and hanging out with her, even more so than Jake did in school. This of course only served to cement the rez's idea of her being a gang leader.

However, Bella guessed it was a good thing she went, seeing as Embry Call decided he was going to have his first shift right in the middle of class.

Okay, it obviously wasn't his decision, and obviously, Bella sensed it and got him out of there before he shifted-making quite a spectacle of herself in the process-but still. What kind of idiot decides to go to school when he's feeling so damn sick, anyways?

On the bright side, at least Bella got to take the rest of the school day off and spend it talking to and teaching Embry all about the wolves, not to mention preparing himself for his first meeting with vampires only a few hours from then. He didn't get anywhere near the amount of prep Bella would have preferred, especially seeing as he was still overthinking how to walk, but she couldn't just leave him out of it all.

Which was how she found herself standing in front of her house, facing her six wolves, preparing herself for whatever was going to happen. They all shifted the second she did, not even bothering to strip-for dramatic effect, of course-and together, they took off into the woods, towards the treaty line where they'd meet their first vampires.

Nearly there, Bella scented that overly sweet, sugary bleach smell and nearly gagged. A few of her wolves actually did, or simply sneezed, but Bella was too cool to make a fool of herself like they did, so she obviously didn't.

However, what she did do was realize what that smell was; it was the smell of vampires. Immediately, her mind flashed back to that Angela girl, remembering how the smell was all over her. Shit, could the vamps be thinking of trying to do something to her? She'd have to have spent time in their arms or something to have that much of their scent all over her.

Her wolves, catching Bella's train of thought about Angela somehow being involved with vampires, snarled. None of the wolves wanted any human to be used or killed by anyone, vampire or not, and the thought of that happening right under their noses didn't sit right with them. Still, while their hearts were in the right place, she told them to put a lid on it. It was just plain stupid to get worked up right now.

They got closer and closer, and Bella prepared herself to meet the vampires, exuding her badassedness so she could look as tough and imposing as possible.

Then, it was time. They burst into the meeting place, making quite the awesome entrance, and Bella laid her eyes on her first vampire. Their eyes met, and just like that, everything seemed to fall away until only she and the vampire were left.

With simple eye contact, Bella was lost.


	6. Chapter 6

_Author's Note: Hey, so here's the next chapter, hope you all enjoy._

* * *

Chapter 6

"Oh, no way in hell!" Rosalie hissed, openly glaring at the largest wolf that was in front of all the others, arms crossed over her chest and hip cocked.

"Rosalie, what's the matter?" Carlisle asked, worried about his daughter's sudden pissed off reaction. She knew they were going to be meeting the wolves; it wasn't like Rosalie was being taken by surprise.

"That...that fucking disgusting mongrel…" Rosalie started, struggling to control her disbelief, disgust, and desire-all of which was hitting Jasper pretty hard, to the point where he was struggling not to crumple under the strength of the emotions. "It, she, I-" Really, it was so unlike Rosalie to be unable to state her mind, let alone stutter like some fool. It just made her angrier, but what was she supposed to do? She was facing a wolf, yet her body, her instincts, were screaming _mate._

The wolves, overcoming their surprise, started growling loudly at the vampires-well, Rosalie. If it weren't for Bella's iron tight hold on them, they would have started snapping and lunging, possibly breaking the treaty in the process.

Bella was also struggling, of course. Sure, she wanted a new fuckbuddy since she no longer had any, but she definitely didn't want a _mate._ To make matters worse, her mate was a _vampire_ no less who, for some reason, smelled nothing like sugary bleach but something much, much better.

Not only that, didn't those fucking elders say that imprinting was supposed to be a _rare_ occurrence? For fucks sake, they only had six wolves so far, and now, because of Bella, nearly half of them had imprinted.

"Their alpha imprinted on Rosalie," Edward announced, hoping that would cease the confusion.

The vampires all seemed shocked as they tried to take in the information. Esme was the first to recover and react, turning to Rosalie with a look of gleeful excitement on her face as she realized what this meant for her daughter.

"Oh, Rosalie, this is wonderful news! To think you've finally found your mate!" Esme exclaimed in joy, throwing her arms around Rosalie.

Rosalie didn't even return the hug, furious as she glared at the alpha wolf, who seemed to have a dark look in her eyes as she stared right back at the blonde. Yes, Rosalie had always wanted a mate, wanted to be in love and complete. However, she expected a vampire to be her mate; not a disgusting wolf.

"Perhaps at least one of you can return to human form so we may talk? I believe this will make it easier on all of us," Carlisle suggested when the hostile silence between Rosalie and the wolves continued.

The alpha wolf glanced towards the wolf by her side, and they seemed to communicate for a moment as the rest of the wolves grumbled uneasily, not liking the idea. But then, without much warning, the alpha dashed into the trees.

"What's taking her so long?" Rosalie snapped irritably when quite a while passed and the wolf still didn't come back out, earning some growls.

"It appears that they came without any clothing," Edward explained, having picked the thought from one of the wolves' minds. "The alpha has to jog back to where one of her stashes are, get dressed, and come back."

Only a few moments after Edward spoke, a long limbed gorgeous girl with long dark brown hair, tanned skin, and dark eyes jogged out of the trees, dressed only in jeans and a sports bra. "Sup?" the girl said as she stopped in the spot she had been standing in as a wolf only minutes earlier.

 _Mate!_ Rosalie's instincts screeched at her, which made Rosalie tremble with anger. She didn't care how gorgeous the girl was, she was still a wolf, and Rosalie wanted nothing to do with her.

As she thought this, the alpha glanced towards Rosalie, eyes dark and a frown on her face, and Rosalie hissed back. This made all of the wolves snarl and snap, but they quickly calmed themselves due to Jared's words and Bella's influence.

"Hello," Carlisle said, the first of the vampires to speak as he tried to keep the peace. "I am Carlisle. This is my mate Esme, Edward, Alice and her mate Jasper, Emmett and his mate Violet, and Rosalie...who is apparently your imprint."

"Hot," Emmett muttered, earning him a warning smack from Violet, but it didn't do much to scold him.

The alpha let out a small, displeased snarl at the mention that Rosalie was her mate, making Rosalie grow back in reply, pissed that the alpha reacted that way. Just because Rosalie was disgusted and wanted nothing to do with the alpha didn't mean that the alpha could just act the same way.

"Right," Carlisle said, clearing his throat uncomfortably. "And you are?"

"Bella," Bella replied shortly, clearly unhappy. Sure, she had wanted a new fuck buddy, but not a fucking mate! A fucking vampire mate. She never wanted a mate, let alone one who seemed to be a fucking blonde bitch. A bitch who Bella already wanted to please, to make her happy and get her to smile.

Fuck that. Bella was going to fight her imprint desires even if it killed her.

"Look," Rosalie said scathingly. "I want nothing to do with you; in fact, you're the last thing on earth I want to do _anything_ with. So all you have to do is stay away from me after we have this stupid talk, and that's that. Got it?"

"You think I'm happy to have imprinted on you?" Bella shot back, voice raising over the snarls from her pack. "Hell, you're the last one I would've wanted to imprint with too! Your bitchiness and vampiness aside, I don't even like blondes! They're like the least attractive out of everyone."

"Excuse me?" Rosalie growled. She couldn't believe the mutt had dared to insult her about her looks, of all things.

"Uh oh," Alice muttered under her breath, grabbing Jasper's hand, not just for her sake, but for his. All of the furious emotions of the wolves, especially the emotions of Rosalie and the alpha, weren't exactly doing anything to help her mate.

"I'm sorry to interrupt," Carlisle started, breaking up the glaring match between the two. "But we are here to confirm that the treaty is still in place, correct? Perhaps we can take care of other issues at a later date."

"Right," Bella said with a huff, focusing on the coven leader. "You know where the treaty line is, right?"

"Of course we do," Rosalie hissed, continuing to glare at Bella. "We're not stupid, unlike you mutts have proven to be over the years."

"Rosalie!" Esme gasped, appalled at her daughter's words, but Rosalie didn't even glance at her.

A growl slipped out of Bella's throat, and her entire body started to shake as her eyes snapped back towards her imprint. "Well I'll have you know," Bella muttered, as deadly calm as she could, "That I don't give a fuck about what you've seen of us in the past. My pack is different, and we won't put up with any bullshit, me being the first female alpha or not." Because everyone always thought that girls, especially girls in positions of power, were always weaker or less capable than guys. Bella had experienced this mentality herself over the years-until she pounded their faces in. "You pull any shit, and we'll come for you."

"And what do you mean by that?" Rosalie snapped back, taking a step towards the alpha. Thankfully she didn't make it far, as both Emmett and Alice quickly jumped in to hold her back before she did something stupid, like walk right past the treaty line to get into Bella's face.

Seeing the challenge in Rosalie's eyes made the alpha start to shake harder. Her wolf was begging to be let out, but Bella refused to lose control-refused to end up becoming anything like Sam. "I mean that if you cross our border, drink from humans, change a human, or even so much as fucking harm a human, then we'll kill you," she stated, glaring right into Rosalie's eyes.

"Let's see you try, mutt," Rosalie snarled, trying to take another step forward, only to once again be stopped.

"We won't try-we'll succeed," Bella swore, because Rosalie just pissed her off that fucking much.

Behind her, her wolves snarled and howled in agreement, adding to Bella's threat, not to mention just adding to the dramatic moment in general.

"I promise you, we will do nothing to break the treaty," Carlisle tried to assure Bella, but Bella wasn't so sure. This disbelief wasn't born out of prejudice; it was born out of the belief that Rosalie seriously appeared to want to kill Bella, and the alpha didn't doubt that she'd jump the border just to get a crack at her.

Of course, if Rosalie ever wanted to fight, Bella would be glad to do so; she'd even waive the treaty momentarily as alpha so they could go at it...without clothes...right there on the ground…

The vampire named Edward gave Bella a weird, uneasy glance, and it was then that Bella realized that this was the vampire who could apparently read minds. She also realized where her mind had gone to, and her eyes widened, then narrowed with anger.

Fuck! Without thinking, Bella slammed her fist into a nearby tree. With a resounding crack, her fist broke right through the trunk, and the tree started to fall. Jared had to jump out of the way to avoid getting attacked by it.

Oops.

"Oh, showing off now are you? Trying to intimidate us? Well if you think that you're tough, wait until you see what a vampire is capable of," Rosalie said.

Oh, no, she did not just say that her little prima donna body was actually stronger than Bella's. Damn it, that was a direct hit to Bella's pride, a hit Bella couldn't let slide. "Really now? Wanna bet?" She stepped forward, but Jared was suddenly in front of her, body blocking her view and eyes pleading with hers.

"Rose, please, calm down. You keep this up, and things will only get worse," Alice pleaded, having already seen just how bad things could get.

Rosalie was about to argue, but then, seeing how tense the wolves and her family had become, realized the danger she herself was putting them in. She deflated, but with a huff, crossed her arms over her chest. "Fine. Hopefully after this, we won't have to ever deal with these mutts again."

"Call us that one more time leech!" Bella snarled, having heard the word. While the saner part of her was telling her to calm down, her rage was high, and just like how she wouldn't let her own pride take a hit, she wasn't about to let anyone talk shit about her or her wolves either. They were hers, and she was going to protect them as best as she could, whether she be protecting them from words or actions.

"What the hell did you just call me?" Rosalie screeched.

"Well, I believe it is time to go. If we feel the need to talk to you again, we will contact you or your elders," Carlisle said hurriedly, and before Bella could do more than blink, the vampires were retreating, Jasper-who must have traded places with his tiny mate-and Emmett holding a struggling Rosalie between them. And they were _fast._ Not to mention the look in Rosalie's eyes was murderous, and she looked beyond fucking hot in that moment. But Bella would be damned if she ever admitted to it.

She stared after them for a long time. Her instincts were howling to follow and soothe her mate, which just proved how stupid her instincts were-even if following didn't break the treaty, if Bella were to do so, Rosalie would definitely do everything she could to rip Bella to shreds. What part of _she'll try to kill me_ didn't her instincts understand?

At one point, Jared nudged her from behind, letting out a soft whine. Bella shook herself out of whatever state she was in and focused on her pack.

"Come on. Let's get out of here," Bella muttered, right before she shifted in a burst of cloth and fur before taking off into the woods. Even her mind was strangely silent, which worried her packmates greatly. Paul didn't even make a single joke about anything that occurred, which was really saying something.

The sad thing was, Bella couldn't just go home and sulk, or go out into the woods and hit stuff. Instead, she had to go straight back to the Elders to _report_ , stopping only for her to change into human form and grab some clothes after she dismissed the wolves with a promise to talk about everything that happened the next day _._

It wasn't long before Bella was standing in front of the Elders, giving an unnecessarily long play by play at the Elders' insistence, ignoring the worried looks Charlie was giving her. However, as she told them what happened, she left some things out. These things included Bella imprinting on Rosalie, Bella nearly losing control, and the long drawn out verbal sparring match they had, because that would have led back to the imprinting. Overall, the vamps, save for Rosalie of course, had seemed pretty cordial, almost nice, in the little bit Bella had heard them speak.

The Elders were in an uproar about the Edward vamp being able to read minds, which was something Bella guessed their legends and history texts didn't tell them about. It just seemed so bad to them-and, honestly, to Bella too-that they wouldn't let it go. And if Edward had a gift, what was to say that all of the vampires couldn't do something special?

Bella just stood there, abnormally calm and composed, as everything else in the meeting room went to hell, watching it all happen like she would watch TV. Although, only a few men proved to be worth any form of entertainment.

"I told you! I told you those vampires were trouble! Something must be done!" Quil Sr shouted at the top of his lungs.

"Like what?" Billy demanded, sounding almost hysterical, which at any other time Bella would have found hilarious.

"Like send in the wolves! Those vampires need to be put down!" Quil Sr, once again, sounding like an idiot.

"You mean we should send in untrained children, one of which is only fourteen? None of them have even fought a vampire before, let alone killed one, and you want us to send in our wolves to kill eight of them? We'd be sending our kids to their deaths!" Charlie shouted back at the fat old man.

"As of now, they prove to be no threat," Billy said as he struggled to calm himself. "They have agreed to continue to follow the treaty, and they only drink from animals."

"But how do you know that?" Quil Sr shot at Billy, sounding almost accusing.

"Bella? Were all of the vampires' eyes gold?" Billy asked, turning calmly towards the alpha wolf.

"Yeah," Bella said. Each pair of eyes had been a pretty bright gold, actually-especially a certain blonde's...no! Don't let your mind wander back to _her_ damn it! Don't let her win!

"Well, there we go," Billy said as he turned back to Quil Sr, not noticing Bella's inner struggle. "As long as their eyes are yellow, that proves that they only drink from animals. Only those with red eyes drink from humans."

"Fine," Quil Sr huffed, dropping his argument, although he was clearly displeased to be doing so.

"Well, with that settled," Charlie started, giving his daughter another glance. "Perhaps Bella can go home and rest?"

Bella shot a thankful glance at her father, but that was quickly replaced by anger by none other than Quil Sr.

"Rest? Why does she need to rest if she doesn't do anything?" Quil Sr demanded, apparently not willing to become any less of a pain in the ass.

"Because I do a lot of shit, you old fart," Bella snarled, taking a threatening step towards the man as her body started to shake, the rage that had been contained since her meeting with Rosalie threatening to spill over. "While all you do is sit on your ass, complain and talk a bunch of crap, and drink until you end up in a stupor. Well you know what? Some day, your karma is going to catch up to you, and I'll be laughing on your grave."

"Bella! Home, now!" Charlie snapped, alarm clear in his face and voice as many of the Elders gasped. Quil Sr actually puffed up, acting like he was going to try to fight back.

For a long moment, Bella stood her ground, her entire body shaking with the desire to change as she glared into Quil Sr's eyes. Daring him to swing, daring him to try something...then he'd see just how dangerous the big bad wolf was. And of course, she didn't budge an inch, not until Quil Sr looked away and shrunk back, muttering something about damned brats.

"I believe it would be best that you leave, Bella," Billy said, sounding almost gentle in his approach.

With a low growl, Bella turned and ran. She also ruined her third pair of clothes for the day as she let her wolf free and shifted mid-run. A few of her pack-Jared, Leah, and Sam-were still wolves, probably waiting for her to shift just in case. They were a little insistent, asking if she needed to talk or some stupid shit, but that wasn't Bella. Bella didn't talk about her feelings; she just acted. And she wasn't about to start now, so she ignored them or told them to shut the fuck up, because she wasn't in the mood.

Once home, she shifted to human, took her anger out on the surrounding trees-without even putting on any clothes, because she didn't want to bother and didn't give a fuck who saw, since they would know that she was pissed and not to mess with her. Then, finally all tired out, Bella went to bed.

The entire fucking time, the wolf part of her was clawing at her, telling her to go to Rosalie's side. It took Bella hours of struggling and fighting the pull to get to sleep, and she wasn't happy.

Even in sleep, Rosalie called to her.

Rosalie was beyond pissed.

Ever since she left that fucking mutt, her emotions felt doubled, which meant she felt twice the fury. To make matters worse, her instincts were screaming at her, telling her to go back, to find Bella, to mate.

At one point, Rosalie was sure she had calmed down, but then a sudden spike of rage caught her off guard, followed by anguish, and it was then that she realized that she was actually feeling Bella's emotions.

What in the actual fuck. There had to be a way to turn this off, right? Rosalie didn't care what Bella was feeling. If anything, Rosalie just wanted to punish Bella for fate deciding they were meant to be.

Her instincts seemed to think differently though; they were telling her to go to Bella, to help her, to make her feel better. It was driving Rosalie crazy.

Then Edward was actually stupid enough to approach her and told Rosalie of Bella's thoughts; that Bella desired her, thought about her, and even thought about how hot Rosalie looked when pissed.

Edward, of course, thought that this would make Rosalie feel better. However, he quickly realized how wrong he was and escaped to Angela, barely keeping all of his limbs attached.

By then, everyone knew it was best to avoid Rosalie, and to not even walk by her room after she stormed upstairs and slammed the door.

Who cared if that fucking mutt thought about her? Wanted her? Just the thought of Bella touching her with even so much as a pinky made Rosalie want to hurl. And if Bella actually dared to touch her with her entire hand, with its stupid long, slender, skilled fingers...Rosalie would kill her.

What kind of person forgot about clothing when she knew she was coming to a meeting, anyways? Bella probably just wanted an excuse to show off her six pack. She seemed like the egotistical bad girl type, what with her gorgeous looks and taunting smile.

Ugh! Rosalie had to kill her. It wouldn't be that big of a deal, anyways; surely there was another girl out there for Rosalie. Another mate.

Yeah. Who would want a tall, dark, and sexy alpha wolf as a mate anyways? An infuriating wolf, with a disgusting stench-although she didn't actually smell bad, not like the others.

No. What was Rosalie thinking? The girl smelled disgusting, absolutely disgusting. And that was final. No room for compromise.

Rosalie, who had up until that point been pacing, fell back on her bed and stared up at the ceiling. Worst of all, she felt like shit; the pull towards Bella was stronger than ever before, and Rosalie didn't even know why.

 _That bitch is probably just sleeping through it all, without a care in the world,_ Rosalie thought bitterly. _Well guess what? If I ever lay my eyes on you, I'm going to make you pay. Somehow, someway...I swear it._

Once she thought her promise, she let herself imagine all sorts of scenarios to torture Bella for being her mate. She didn't even notice when her thoughts took a less violent, and a much more sexual turn of her "punishing" _her_ mate.

That is, until Edward came back. Thinking that Rosalie was getting used to the idea, he broached the subject with her, and suddenly, Rosalie had a new subject to focus her ire on.

Alice didn't even have the chance to warn him as every single thing Edward would find horrible was forced upon him using Rosalie's thoughts. Because of his misstep, the poor boy was in mental agony for hours.

Now, if only Rosalie could do the same to that cocky, smart assed alpha; then she'd be getting somewhere.


	7. Chapter 7

_Author's Note: For those who love this story, my muse is still going strong, hence the quick update. Hope you all enjoy, and let's hope my muse can get working on my other stories too!_

* * *

Chapter 7

It had been a few days since Bella had met Rosalie, and Bella was growing restless. Restless, and very, very horny. It didn't help that Bella's dreams were plagued by a certain gorgeous blonde; one who she would fight with even in her dreams, although the ending didn't lead to any violent clawing. Instead, it led to some seriously hot sex that made it all but impossible to sleep.

This had been the longest Bella had ever gone without sex since she was fourteen, and she was being driven to the brink of insanity. Even her own pack were wary around her, knowing how likely she was to snap. It certainly didn't help that Embry imprinted on Kim and was living the high life while, once again, Bella was stuck fighting her pull to Rosalie.

In the end, it was decided that Bella needed some downtime and, most of all, that she needed a new fuckbuddy. A fuckbuddy who was so good, that she would completely take Bella's mind off of... _her._ Fucking blonde.

This was why, the second Bella was done with school on Friday, she ran home, changed into the sexiest clothes she had, and was prepared to run all the way to Seattle if she had to. Thankfully, she didn't have to do that since she had a car. The only problem was, she didn't even manage to sit in her car before her phone rang, alerting her to a text from none other than the elders, demanding to see her immediately.

"Aw, come the fuck on!" Bella growled, putting her car in reverse as she pulled out of the driveway and started towards the meeting house instead of Seattle. This had better be good or some life threatening shit, because Bella was so close to snapping.

When she arrived at the house, she found all of the elders waiting for her, all looking incredibly serious. Only Charlie looked a little put out, but due to the fact that not a single snide word was spoken from Quil Sr, Bella knew it had to be serious.

She was wrong.

"So, Bella, we have learned that you were planning to go to Seattle today," Billy started, frowning as he leaned towards the alpha.

"Yeah, so?" Bella asked as she hooked her thumbs in her jean loops, waiting to hear why she had been called here out of nowhere.

"We have called you here to tell you that you are not allowed," Quil Sr announced, clearly gloating as he smirked pretty damn evilly at Bella.

"Wait, what? What the hell? Why the fuck not?" Bella exclaimed, immediately starting to shake with fury, her wolf ruthlessly demanding she be let out to destroy. She was just so done...so fucking done...there had better be a seriously good reason for this, or she was really going to explode.

"Jacob Black appears to be ready to shift any day now," Charlie spoke up, but even he didn't seem to believe his own words. "The alpha needs to be near him to help guide him once the shift happens."

"It is incredibly strange, however; the timetable for shifting seems to have sped up exponentially, and we have no idea why," Harry muttered, almost to himself. "While it's true that the Cullens are close and triggering the wolf gene in our people, it should be taking much longer than this. Originally, we had guessed that Jacob and many of the others shouldn't have shifted until sometime next year."

Bella, who had been frozen in disbelief, finally managed to speak. "You mean to tell me I'm not allowed to leave La Push, just because of the slight chance he might shift today? Are you serious?"

"No, there's also the fact that we are right next to so many vampires; who knows if and when they might try something," Billy added.

Oh, gods...Bella was just so close to giving into the impulse and punching each and every elder in the face, especially that smug bastard Quil Sr. It was only Charlie's pleading eyes that stopped Bella from going mental.

"This is fucking stupid," Bella snarled, some of her wolf seeping into her voice.

"We know it is, Bella," Billy hurried to assure her. "But we can't let down our guard here."

"It's those vampires' faults, anyways; if you want to get pissed at somebody, get pissed at them," Quil Sr added, leaning back in his chair like nothing was his problem.

Immediately, the image of Rosalie flashed in Bella's brain, and she let out a low growl, gritting her teeth. "What the hell are you talking about?" Had they somehow found out the truth about what happened between her and the blonde?

"Well, it's their fault that you all shifted into wolves in the first place," Quil Sr explained, with a tone that suggested Bella was a moron for not realizing it herself. "And it's the Cullens that chose to settle in Forks, posing a constant threat to every human in the area. If they weren't here, then you would be free, able to do whatever you pleased, corrupting everyone you could along the way. But since you shifted and became the _alpha_ ," something that Quil clearly hated, "you have to stay here and keep the peace."

 _So everything is the Cullens' fault?_ Bella thought with disbelief. Hell no. Were they honestly trying to blame it all on the Cullens? Sure, vampires were the reason that some of Bella's people shifted into wolves, and yeah, Bella had a personal grudge against a certain blonde, but this is ridiculous. It wasn't because of the Cullens that Bella wasn't allowed to leave the rez; it was because of the Elders. They were the ones who decided that Bella couldn't leave today, and they were just trying to put the blame on the Cullens because they didn't want to take responsibility themselves.

If Bella was angry before, she was murderous now.

"But Jared and Embry went up to Seattle two days ago," Bella said, giving the elders one last chance to let her go.

"Yes, but they're not the alpha; you have a responsibility to your pack and your people," Billy explained, sounding contrite.

All sorts of bloody images flashed in Bella's minds, all of them involving the elders screaming in terror. However, instead, Bella took a deep breath, muttered a clearly pissy "fine" and walked away, slamming the door behind her.

On her way out, she noticed that all of their cars were parked very close to her own, and without a conscious thought, Bella's nails shifted into claws. She made sure to scratch each and every one of their cars on the way out, reveling in the shouts of alarm and fury from the Elders when they saw what she was doing.

"ISABELLA!" Quil Sr screamed the loudest, but none of them dared to threaten her or even shout another word after the fast old bastard got the glare of a lifetime from the alpha.

 _Let's see them try to tell me what to do again,_ Bella thought darkly as she got in her car and started the engine. She tore out of the lot, but halfway along the road, decided to "follow" their orders.

She made a call, smirking at the idea of keeping the soon-to-be shifted best friend of hers tightly under her wing.

"Hey Bells, what's up?" Jacob answered his phone after the second ring. He sounded happy, not too sick, and just a little puzzled. Perfect.

"You have any plans for today?" Bella asked, getting right to the point.

"No…why? Please don't tell me it's anything illegal again."

"Nope. Just wait outside; I'll pick you up in ten." Bella hung up before Jacob could say another word, sent a quick text to Jared putting him in charge, and then took off down the road, heading for the Black house.

She was going to keep a close eye on Jacob, all right. But she'd be damned if she would let herself be trapped in La Push.

"Hey, Bella," Rachel, not Jacob, was the one to greet Bella as the alpha pulled into the driveway of the Blacks' house and rolled down her window.

"Hey," Bella replied shortly, averting her eyes from Rachel's low cut top. Before, she would have looked, but she was in a bad mood and didn't want to risk getting horny by ogling the older girl. Not to mention Leah was right behind her, and she didn't want to get Leah all worked up either. "Where's Jake?"

"Running over here as fast as he can," Rachel replied dryly, leaning on the window frame. "When you told him you were picking him up, he didn't get the chance to tell you he had been goofing off near the waterfall."

"Whoops," Bella said with a shrug. _Don't look at the boobs, Black. You know they're more trouble than they're worth, no matter how big they are. Just think about the city girls you'll soon have your fingers buried in...yeah, focus on them...damn it, not enough to get horny right now, we still have a long drive._

"You know, I was beyond surprised to find out you're all wolves," Rachel started casually. "Although I have to say, it explains a lot when you came back home feeling even sexier than before. And now that I'm with Leah..." Rachel didn't really know what to say. _I'm sorry for leaving you high and dry? Sorry to hear who you imprinted on?_

 _Yeah, a lot of good that did me,_ Bella thought. After all, what was the point of additional sexiness if there was now no one to use it on? Seducing straight girls didn't exactly get Bella a longterm fuckbuddy. Desperate to not have to suffer through whatever conversation Rachel was trying to have, Bella looked up to meet eyes with Leah, all but begging her packmate for help.

"Hey, Rach," Leah started as she stepped forward, putting an arm around her imprint. "It looks like Jake's here, so maybe we should stop talking about wolf stuff and leave them to get into whatever trouble they want to alone."

And indeed, there Jake was. He jogged over, out of breath and more than a little sweaty, but he would have to do. "Jacob, in the car. We're going on a trip," Bella said, reaching across her car to the passenger door, which she opened for him to get in.

Jacob jumped in, used to doing what Bella said, and closed the door behind him. He belted himself in and said, "So Bells, where are we-?"

He didn't have time to even finish his sentence as Bella peeled out of his driveway, tires screeching, and took off down the road. Jacob clung to his seat, scrabbling for a grip, but soon gave up, knowing that if Bella were to hit something, he'd die no matter what he did.

"Be careful!" Rachel shouted after them, but while Bella heard it, she didn't consider slowing down. She needed to get out of La Push as soon as possible.

"So, Bella," Jacob started a few minutes later, once they had gotten off of La Push lands and Bella had slowed down. "I take it we're going somewhere important?"

"Hell yeah we are," Bella said with a nod, never taking her eyes off of the roads. "We're going to Seattle."

Jacob let out a low groan, knowing that Bella only went to Seattle for one of two reasons; to get better clothes, or to pick up chicks. "And you're taking me along because…?"

"Because I need to keep an eye on you," Bella replied with a smirk. "It's my job to make sure you're not getting into any trouble, after all."

"You? Keep me out of trouble?" Jake asked incredulously, all but laughing in disbelief. "Really Bella? Really?"

"Yup." The elders had been right about one thing; Jacob was close to shifting. The heat washing off of his body, the strong scent of wolf, all pointed to that fact. But Bella wasn't about to change her plans now. If she waited until Jacob shifted, she knew the Elders would just come up with other excuses. Next it would be Quil who was close to shifting, or maybe they expect an attack any moment now, or maybe someone farted and it was Bella's duty as Alpha to chase the smell out and make sure that explosive fart never dared to touch pack lands again.

"Damn, Bells. First you kidnap Embry, and now me. Am I next to join your little gang?" Jacob grumbled, but he only sounded a tad bit upset.

"Probably," Bella said, not giving the elders and their laws a second thought. "Sorry about stealing your buddy though; I guarantee you, I hadn't planned on it."

"Whatever," Jacob said with a shrug, getting over it. "I just wish you would tell me what's going on, maybe just let me in on it. You seem so pissed off these days."

"I wish I could, dude." Sadly, Bella had already gotten hell when the elders had found out that Bella had told Leah a part of what was going to happen to her. In the Alpha's mind, it really was Bella's fault for what went down-not because of what Bella had said, but because she had accidentally let it slip that she had told Leah what would happen in front of the elders. It had not been a fun time, and while Bella hated all the bullshit that had been shoved onto her shoulders, she wasn't about to let the elders choose someone else or try to knock Bella from her seat of power. She knew that they'd try to make Sam or Jake alpha, and neither were right for the roll. The pack would go to hell for sure, and she wouldn't be able to watch it happen.

"Yeah…" Jacob mumbled, realizing that there was definitely something bigger going on, and that Bella was probably in deep shit.

It wasn't long before they changed to lighter topics, and soon had each other in stitches, laughing at pretty much anything. It felt like only minutes had passed before they entered Seattle and found a parking spot.

"So, why exactly are we here? I never got the details," Jacob said as he got out of the car, right behind Bella.

"Isn't it obvious? We're here to pick up chicks," Bella said, grinning with pride. "Hot ones, too."

Jacob groaned. "Damn, Bella, you know I suck at this. And couldn't you have at least let me change first?"

"Hell no," Bella shot back, grabbing his hand as she started to drag him along. "We don't have any time to waste; I need a girl, and I need one now."

There was another groan from Jacob, but he wisely didn't say anything. He had noticed how agitated Bella had gotten recently, and knew that both Emily and Rachel had apparently moved on and gotten in a serious relationship. He figured Bella just really needed a good fuck to get rid of all of her sexual frustrations; he just hoped he wouldn't have to awkwardly stand outside of some hotel while she did the deed.

Before Jacob knew it, Bella had locked on to some girls hanging outside of a bookstore, her gaydar alerting her to the fact that one definitely played for her team. Best of all, the girl she had locked in on was a petite redhead with blue eyes, and looked nothing like the bitch that kept on haunting Bella. The alpha had her target isolated as she pushed Jacob into a conversation with a pretty, older girl, the friend of Bella's target, and the poor boy was blushing a dark red as he tried and failed to chat her up. The only reasons the girl probably didn't leave Jake for something else was because Bella was already flirting pretty heavily with her friend, and because it was actually amusing to see Jacob try so hard.

Bella was progressing with amazing speed, and the girl that held her attention was clearly enjoying it, blushing and averting her gaze with a shy smile on her face. Bella had even managed to steal a few kisses from the redhead, and combined with a caress or two, had the girl letting out a few soft moans.

The redhead, whose name was Kerry or something, was soon flushed, shyly clinging to Bella in an effort to stay standing, because Bella had definitely left her lightheaded. Bella almost wanted to laugh at how easy it was, at how relieved Bella would feel when she finally got to fuck and let out all of her excess energy, but something wouldn't let her.

Or should she say someone, because Rosalie fucking Cullen wouldn't leave her head. It was like the imprint was trying to guilt Bella into stopping, but damn it, it wasn't like Bella was cheating or something! An imprint didn't automatically put two people into a relationship or any shit like that, and it wasn't like, even if Bella was the last person on earth, that Rosalie would even want to touch her.

And Bella needed sex. She _needed_ it. She'd be damned if she was going to let this pretty little girl go when she was so fucking close, just because of some imprint bond that she never even wanted was trying to guilt trip her.

Deciding to fuck Rosalie-not in the real sense, regrettably, but in the get the hell out of my head sense-Bella forced herself to really get into it with the redhead. Before the redhead knew what hit her, she was being dragged along for the ride. The girl was moaning, gripping tight to Bella's shoulders, as Bella kissed her hard and long. Kerry or whatever responded immediately, because there was no way anyone would try to push away from a girl as sexy as Bella. Not to mention Bella was basically giving the redhead mouth sex, and god did Bella know what she was doing.

Bella grabbed the girl's ass, pulling her closer, and the makeout session got so hot and heavy that neither Jacob or Kerry's friend had any idea where they were supposed to look. They didn't even dare speak a word.

It was right as Bella was considering inviting the girl to a hotel that a scent, one that didn't belong to the girl, her friend, or Jacob, smacked Bella right in the nose. And while it hit a very confused Jacob hard, it hit Bella so much harder.

Sugar and bleach. A human scent of violets and springtime. And, worst of all, was the scent of cinnamon and vanilla.

Unable to help herself, Bella broke the kiss and turned her head, focusing on the scents that really, really shouldn't have been there. _Of all the fucking luck…_

Almost as if there was a magnetic pull, Bella turned around. Her heart dropped into her stomach, and her hands released the redhead to clench into fists at Bella's side.

And, finally, Bella's eyes met the golden gaze of a very pissed off Rosalie Cullen.


	8. Chapter 8

_Author's Note: Another chapter done, and even worked on a few others. I am on a roll today, to the point I might even finish another chapter or three of some various works in the next day or two. No promises, so don't get your hopes up too high, but just be aware that I'm on the biggest roll in months._

* * *

Chapter 8

Rosalie was beyond pissed. So pissed, in fact, that she wanted to grab that fucking cocky ass wolf, drag her away from the redhead, and kill...someone. Kill the redhead, or kill Bella, she wasn't exactly sure. Maybe she should just kill both.

"Um, Rose," Alice started hesitantly as she put a hand on Rosalie's arms, aware of Rosalie's quickly darkening eyes. And while the pixie didn't see them meeting the alpha when she was planning this shopping trip, or even their futures going blank, she did see Rosalie causing quite a scene later if Alice didn't handle this problem with extreme care. It didn't help that Alice couldn't even see what Bella would say or do to cause Rosalie's explosion.

"Bella, Jake," Angela said with clear surprise, which served to startle both Rosalie and Alice.

"You _know_ them?" Rosalie hissed, turning her furious glare on the human, which made Angela flinch away and gulp.

"What are you leeches doing with her?" Bella demanded in a low growl, also fixating on the fact that two vampires were with a human. She'd be damned if she focused on the bitchy blonde.

"What's it to you?" Rosalie snapped. "Just go back to tongue fucking that little redhead and mind your own business."

Rosalie's words got Bella's back up and made her step threateningly towards the blonde, completely forgetting about the girl she had making out with seconds earlier. "Keeping humans safe is my business," Bella said, lowering her voice even further so no one who didn't have super hearing could hear. "And what's it to you whose throat I stick my tongue down, anyways? Keep up the attitude and I might actually think you're jealous."

Ugh! How could this bitch act so...so...ugh! Like Rosalie was actually jealous of _her,_ Rosalie just couldn't stand even laying eyes on Bella. It was as simple as that. In fact, now that she was laying eyes on the alpha, Rosalie just wanted to strangle her. Her fingers were actually twitching with her desire.

Remembering that Bella was currently with two other humans, Bella turned back to the redhead. "Hey, sorry about this," Bella said, giving the girl her most charming smile. "You shouldn't have to stand here and get involved. But maybe I can call you?" As she asked, she reached out and stroked the girl's cheek, making the girl blush.

Kerry opened her mouth, all too willing to say yes and give Bella her number despite the suddenly hostile situation. This didn't happen, as before either knew it, Rosalie grabbed Bella's ear and jerked her away.

"No, I don't think you'll be getting any girl's number, especially not right in front of my face," Rosalie snarled, pulling the stunned alpha backwards. She didn't question why she felt so pissed off that Bella was doing so-she only focused on just how furious the brunette made her and simply channeled that fury onto the wolf.

"Hey! Let her go!" Jacob snapped, jumping forward to defend his friend, only for Angela to get in the way, eyes pleading not to make the situation worse. But Jake had to do something, that was his best friend right there!

Speaking of friends...Kerry and her friend traded a look, and decided dealing with a crazy ex wasn't worth it. They ran away, and nobody even noticed, too transfixed on the scene between Bella and Rosalie as Bella jerked away with a low growl.

"Try touching me again," Bella threatened, stepping up into the blonde's personal space.

"I wouldn't want to touch you if you were the last _thing_ on earth," Rosalie hissed, poking Bella hard in the chest.

Bella raised an eyebrow and smirked at the blonde, and Rosalie already could tell that whatever the alpha was about to say would piss her off. She was quickly proven right when Bella said, "Yet you're touching me right now. Looks like your body isn't on the same note as your mouth, huh blondie?" And damn it, but Rosalie's hand really was on Bella, pressing against the spot right over Bella's heart. What was her hand even _doing_ anyways? Why did her entire body have to crave the stupid mutt?

Rosalie quickly jerked her hand away with a low hiss and moved as if she was about to slap that stupid smirk right off of Bella's face. She would have, too, if a hand hadn't shot out and grabbed her wrist.

"Rose, you really don't want to do that," Alice said pleadingly, trying to tug the immovable blonde backwards, away from the troublemaking alpha.

"Oh, yes I do," Rosalie growled, making Bella growl right back, eyes narrowing in anger and challenge.

"Go ahead and try," Bella rumbled, glaring down at the blonde, and for some damn reason, her gaze ended up focusing on Rosalie's lips. _Damn it, brain, what the fuck are you doing? We don't like her! We want her gone or, like, on her knees and shit!_ Shit, on her knees...why did that have to sound so good?

"Hey Jake, are you okay?" Angela asked, clear worry in her voice as she realized how messed up Jacob appeared.

"Uh...I don't know. I don't feel so good," Jacob mumbled, his entire body trembling, distracting him from his fury towards the way the blonde had been treating one of his best friends. Really, what was going on with him? He couldn't be that sick, could he?

"You're burning up; I think you need a doctor," Angela said, reaching out to feel Jacob's forehead, and that's all that Bella needed to hear.

Immediately, Bella's attention snapped from her imprint to the soon-to-be wolf, and she cursed as she realized how close Jacob was to shifting. Damn it, he wouldn't be so close he if they hadn't run into vampires. He would have at least been a day or two off. That's right, if they hadn't run into the pixie and the bitch… "This is all your fault!" Bella snarled as she whirled towards Rosalie, really getting in the blonde's face.

" _Excuse_ me?" Rosalie snapped, ready to shove the alpha right into the wall without a care of who saw. However, Bella had already turned, grabbed Jake, and was taking off down a nearby street. "Oh no, you are not running away from me!"

"Rose, I don't really think that's-" Alice started, but Rosalie was already taking off after them. With a sigh at the ruined shopping day, Alice turned to Angela. "Sorry about this Angela, we really didn't expect to see them here."

Angela quickly, albeit uneasily, assured that everything was alright. But honestly, with the sparks that flew between Bella and Rosalie, she was seriously worried that the two would kill each other if left alone.

And of course, Angela was probably right. It didn't help to know that Rosalie's future was still blank.

Bella hadn't even tried going to her car, instead just running as quickly as she could without appearing inhuman right out of town-thank god she had been looking for girls near the city limits-and aimed for the closest patch of forest she could find. She was also using all the alpha power she could while in human form to keep Jacob from shifting just yet, something she hadn't even realized she could do until she suddenly found herself needing to do just that.

They barely made it into a smallish forest before Jacob couldn't hang on any longer. Bella threw him through the air just as he exploded with an agonized howl. He of course couldn't right himself in time, and landed on the ground on his side in his new russet colored fur.

"Shit, was that close," Bella muttered, panting with adrenaline as a disoriented Jake scrambled onto all fours, trying to make sense of just what was going on. She pulled her shirt over her head, planning on joining him to try to explain things, when trouble once again found her. Or, more precisely, caught up to her since she had been on Bella's tail all along.

At first, Rosalie had paused and stared, drinking in the sight of the gorgeous half naked alpha. Then, when she realized what she was doing, she got pissed at herself, and of course at the wolves, which meant she was definitely going to take her angry emotions out on a certain alpha. "Are you serious?" Rosalie demanded in her bitchiest voice, striding forward and catching both Bella and Jacob's attention. "So you can't even control your own mutts now? What kind of so-called _alpha_ are you, anyways?"

Bella's gaze immediately snapped to the blonde, eyes bright with fury. She stepped towards Rosalie, ready to get into another to-the-death verbal sparring match. However, she didn't get the chance to speak a word.

Jacob, still disoriented, terrified, and confused, caught the disgusting sugary scent of a vampire, and instincts took over higher reasoning. Telling him that she was dangerous, a threat, that Jacob had to attack and protect, Jacob lunged at her with a snarl.

Everything seemed to slow down. Rosalie whirled in surprise, but crouched, ready to fight the threat of the giant wolf. Bella, realizing what was happening, didn't even think. The urge to protect her imprint, her _mate,_ overwhelmed her, and she lunged at Jacob, shifting before she even slammed into the wolf. They slammed into a nearby tree, making it crack and fall, as the two wolves landed in a snarling mess.

Jacob's wolf wanted to rise, to fight, to dominate, but realized just how alpha Bella really was even before Bella's jaws clamped onto Jacob's throat. She let out a roar, barely muffled by the fur of Jake's throat, her mind's voice just as loud as she shouted; _Mine!_

Bella was so wild with the need to protect, that it took everything she had not to injured Jake. Had it been anyone else, someone who wasn't her pack and yet still posed an actual threat to her blonde imprint, Bella might have even ripped the person's throat out.

Instead, she just shook Jacob back and forth, making him whimper, before throwing him into another tree. She then started to prowl close to Rosalie, eyes still on the other wolf, just daring Jacob to try anything else.

Jake and his wolf wasn't stupid. He settled onto all fours, belly brushing the ground, and whined, doing everything he could to show he wasn't a threat without actually coming closer and risking another attack.

Rosalie stared up at Bella, aware that the ferocious creature was actually protecting her, and she had no idea what to feel. And while she wasn't sure what she should say either, she said something anyways without thinking it through. "I could have handled it, mutt. I didn't _need_ your protection."

Bella, still high on instincts, whirled on Rosalie with a snarl. She lunged at the blonde, as fast as a vampire, and once again shifted before colliding with her target. Jacob had enough thought to cover his eyes with his paws and shield himself from Bella's nakedness before Bella shifted, and then she was on Rosalie, pinning the girl to the ground, sharpened teeth sinking into Rosalie's throat, not breaking the diamond hard skin, but the intent was clear. She was demanding that her mate submit.

For a long moment, Rosalie didn't even realize she had been knocked over, let alone that there were teeth in her throat. Instead, she was completely focused on one thing, and one thing alone; Bella's naked body. And god, was it glorious, to the point that Bella could easily smell Rosalie's arousal. It made Bella shift so that she was between Rosalie's legs, pressing against the vampire's core with a rumble, the need to take her mate distracting her from the need to make Rosalie submit to the point she loosened her grip on Rosalie's throat.

It was the sudden delicious pressure that snapped Rosalie out of her ogling and made her realize just what was happening. "What the fuck do you think you're doing?" she hissed, thumping Bella hard on the back of the head.

Bella reared back with a snarl, only to realize the situation she had found herself in. Horror etched all over her face, she fell onto her ass and scrambled away. What _had_ she been doing? What the fuck was wrong with her?

The mutt was even more gorgeous from this angle, Rosalie thought, swallowing hard as she got a full frontal view of Bella's nakedness. The toned body, those abs, those perfectly sized, firm breasts, not to mention-oh god. She had not just tried to sneak a peek between Bella's legs. Especially after what Bella had just done.

"That wasn't me, okay? That was my wolf," Bella was quick to defend herself. "My wolf and that fucking imprint bond. My emotions were riled, and the wolf took over, and made me do whatever the fuck that was." Although, damn, did it feel good to have Rosalie under her. Not just the girl's soft body, but its coolness. Ever since Bella had shifted, she no longer felt cold, and often felt overheated. But with Rosalie under her, not only did she feel nice and cool in the best possible way, but it just felt...right.

Bella really needed to figure out a way to break this imprint bond. The sooner, the better, before she's driven insane.

"Whatever," Rosalie muttered, flipping to her feet before dusting herself off and fixing her hair.

"Prom queen," Bella coughed, like it was one of the biggest insults ever. And to Bella, it was; she never liked those prissy girls who only cared about her looks. It just figured Rosalie would be just that.

Rosalie turned to glare at her, only to realize Bella was still naked. With a hiss, she looked away and snapped, "Don't you have some clothes to put on?"

"Why, like what you see?" Bella asked cockily, her usual smirk curling her lips.

"Not even close," Rosalie shot back, lip curling in distaste. "In fact, you're too disgusting to so much as look at."

"Why? Because I'm a wolf? Or do you just hate it when you meet someone sexier than you are?" Fuck, she did not just admit that she found Rosalie sexy. She hated blondes, hated girls who were so obsessed with their looks, and more than that, she hated Rosalie.

"Please. I'm ten times hotter than you'll ever be." Rosalie still didn't look Bella's way, something Bella couldn't help but pick up on.

"Well, either I'm so ugly I'm a zero, and since ten times zero is still zero, you're as ugly as I am. Or, you actually find me attractive," Bella said, still cocky. Since she knew that Rosalie would never actually admit that she would find Bella attractive, she couldn't wait to see how Rosalie would reply. She hoped that whatever Rosalie's response was would pain the blonde to say, especially seeing as ever since Bella had landed on Rosalie naked, her own imprint bond was even stronger and torturous than ever.

"Oh, fuck you, flea breath," Rosalie hissed. "I'm gorgeous, you're ugly enough that I'd rather die than look at you naked, and that's all there is to it." Then she stormed away, mentally cursing herself for not being able to think of a better response.

 _Yeah you are,_ Bella couldn't help but think, watching the blonde leave, her eyes glued to the sway of Rosalie's hips and her gorgeous ass. It was only when Jacob whined that she was able to tear her eyes away, and she let out a loud snarl as she realized what she had been thinking. That fucking imprint bond! It was definitely messing with her head, to make Bella think that blonde ice bitch was in any way desirable.

Damn it, she needed to hit something, and she needed to do it soon. Although the drive home was going to be torture…

Bella froze as new realization dawned. Fuck, because of the ice bitch, Bella had shifted without taking off her pants. All Bella had to wear was a shirt, and Jacob had nothing. And Bella couldn't retrieve her car topless.

This was all blondie's fault. Damn it, if she could just…! She needed to think up a way to make Rosalie pay for this. Because of that fucking blondie, she was going to have to run home, grab a change of clothes, run back, shift, change, and then drive her car back.

Well, if the elders hadn't noticed Bella missing so far, they definitely would now.

Jacob whined again, still not daring to uncover his eyes, but thankfully once again pulling Bella's mind off of Rosalie.

"Sorry about that whole attack dog shit I had going on there," Bella said before shaking her head, trying to clear her thoughts. "I'll explain everything that's going on the way. Just don't freak out on me again, damn it."

She shifted then, becoming her wolf, and that damn imprint bond actually had the nerve to get stronger. On top of that, she now had to struggle with her wolf, who was demanding they go and find their mate.

 _Damn, hope you're okay Bells,_ Jake thought, feeling just how powerful Bella's turmoil was. So powerful that even Jacob was struggling with it, and if he was struggling with just a glimpse of Bella's struggle, he had to wonder just how Bella was even surviving it.

 _I'm fine,_ Bella growled, reaching down to gently pick up her shirt as Jacob yelped in surprise. He clearly hadn't thought that they'd be able to communicate as wolves. _Yeah buddy, we can communicate as wolves. It's all part of the package. Now you've gotta shut up unless you have a question, because I have a lot of shit to explain, I'm pissed off, and we only have so much time before the elders get up my butt about leaving the rez with you but without permission._ The addition of Jacob shifting was just going to be another thing that they were going to burn her at the stake for, and now that she thought about it, she realized just how much shit she was going to be in, which made her feel even worse.

Jacob stared at his friend as pieces of the puzzle clicked together, and he realized just how much Bella was going through. He could even figure out how soon all this had started, just based on the mood change. She was so much grimmer now, more angry, and clearly under a lot of pressure, and maybe even pain. It made him want to say something comforting to his friend, but he kept his mouth shut; he knew that Bella was never one to deal with emotions, and she'd just clam up and feel even worse.

 _Fuck!_ The sudden shout made Jacob jump, and he turned to stare at Bella with even more worry than before. The reason for the sudden curse accidentally slipped into his mind; Bella's wolf wanted her to follow her mate, and Bella wanted to go home, which left them at a stalemate. As in, Bella couldn't even move right now, and was actually shaking with the effort not to go to Rosalie. The struggle was so bad that Bella's jaw clenched, causing her teeth to shred her shirt. She spat out the remains of the shredded cloth in disgust, and seemed to get even angrier as she fought for control.

Jacob waited patiently as his friend fought it out with her wolf, until she finally won after convincing the wolven part of her that going home was the best thing, since Rosalie actually lived near the rez. And while she was in a worse mood than ever, she made sure to do her duty. She explained what was going on, everything that had happened since Bella herself had shifted, even what would be expected of Jake. She even talked about imprints, although even mentioning that caused Bella pain.

In that moment, Jacob came close to hating somebody for the first time in his life. Not just the elders, who were making things so much harder on Bella than they needed to be, but Rosalie too. A part of him knew it was irrational, but he couldn't help it. If Bella hadn't imprinted, she would have been so much happier. Even if Bella had imprinted, if she had just imprinted on anybody else, Jake knew she wouldn't be experiencing the pain she was now. And since he couldn't hate on a bond or hate on becoming a wolf whether someone wanted to or not, he hated on the next best thing; Rosalie. Even if Bella and Rosalie somehow ended up together, Jacob doubted he could ever be more than civil to the blonde if it turned out that Rosalie knew the pain she was putting Bella through.

He was going to have his friend's back through all of this, no matter Bella's decision. It was part of the bro code, after all-even if Jacob's 'bro' was a girl who felt more like a sister to him than anything.

Unknowingly to Jacob, Bella could hear every one of his thoughts as they raced along, now in relative silence since she had told him everything she could think of. And while she'd never admit it out loud, didn't dare think it, especially since she was currently a wolf, she felt a warmth inside at Jacob's words. To think he worried about her, cared about her, this much? He was fucking awesome, and Bella felt like a bitch for not making more time for him after she had become a wolf.

Still, a part of her wondered; did she even deserve friends as amazing as Jacob? It looked like only time and Bella's own actions would tell, but she was determined to prove she deserved them. Just like she was determined to break the imprint, now more than ever before. She wanted Rosalie and this fucking stupid bond out of her life, the sooner the better. And with Bella's determination and stubbornness, she bet her ass it was going to be soon.

Bella was going to break this fucking imprint bond, or die trying.


	9. Chapter 9

_Author's Note: Okay, so I wasn't too sure that I liked how this chapter turned out, but here it is. Hope you guys enjoy it._

* * *

Chapter 9

Of course, Bella got yelled at by the elders the very next morning, not just for leaving the rez, but taking Jacob with her. And of course, the old fart Quil Sr made sure to rub her mistakes in Bella's face and suggest how she might not be real alpha material. Bella then told Quil Sr where he could shove his "true alpha" material and stormed out.

She didn't go far away, however. Instead, she snuck around to the back of the meeting hut, looking for a particular window.

"Bingo," Bella said with a grin. And whaddya know, but some stupid sap had even left it open, just for her. While it was too high for her to reach, all she did was have to use her superhuman wolfyness to jump, and she easily grabbed onto the window sill and lifted herself up and inside.

She landed in the musty old library, or "records room" without a sound, a taunting smirk on her lips, directed at the elders who had no idea that she was even there. The old fools hadn't even thought to install cameras, so as long as she didn't do anything stupid, she wasn't going to get caught.

"Now...where could those sacred document be…?" Bella sang softly to herself as she prowled along the shelves. At least the elders had been kind enough to label things for her.

The shelf that held all of the past wolves gave Bella pause, but she decided to skip it for now; she had to focus on finding out everything she could about imprints.

At last, Bella found it. She was nearly vibrating with excitement as she grabbed the first stack of papers she could. After all, in these texts and notes had to be the solution to her problem. She was going to find a way to break the imprint any second now.

Bella started reading almost desperately, muttering out loud, "Eyes meet, imprint forms, passing on genes...well that's fucking stupid, I'm a lesbian, and Leah got set up with a girl too. How's that going to pass on genes?" Shaking her head at how outdated the text sounded, she quickly got tired of the textbook explanation and grabbed the next manuscript.

At least this one was written better. It explained not just what the imprint was created for, but how the imprint is based on the soulmate principle, true love, how the wolf found themselves completely devoted to their imprint…

Damn. Just because it was all written to sound more appealing and less clinical didn't make Bella like it any more. It still sounded like a bunch of bullshit, and Bella wanted to spit on it. Who in their right minds, whether it be gods or whatever the fuck else existed, would think that Bella's match should be an ice bitch of a vampire?

Bella kept reading. She had no plans to stop, either. Not until she found the text that would tell her how a wolf could say "Nope, you fucked up on this one, now take my 'imprint' back and set me free."

The more she read, the more painful it got. Not because what Bella was reading had touched her in any way, but because her wolf was getting more and more upset the more determined Bella seemed to get. She was grimacing and rubbing at her chest, right over her heart, as her wolf raged inside of her. It wanted to be released, to go to their mate, and to prove that Rosalie was the one for them.

"Fucking hell," Bella muttered at one point, doubling over as her body shook with the force of her wolf. At this point, it would be a relief to give in. To just let her wolf go and get the pain to stop.

Fuck no. Bella wasn't some pussy. She wasn't about to let some dog tell her what to do, especially when said dog was using _her_ body as it own personal chew toy.

Finding a strength inside of her she didn't even know she had, Bella straightened and magically shoved her wolf into a corner of her mind, telling it to shut the fuck up. The wolf wasn't happy, but at least Bella had control again.

Taking a deep breath, Bella set down what she was reading and reached out to pull the next book from the shelf, only to pause. Another book caught her eye, labeled "Broken Imprints."

Yes! This was it! The solution to all of Bella's problems! She was so happy she almost howled in joy, but instead, she simply bit her lower lip and snatched the book from the shelf.

Opening it up, her entire body tensed with excitement as her eyes eagerly devoured the words on the page. Just as quickly as she had tasted her salvation, it was horribly snatched away from her.

No. No, it couldn't be true. There's no way this could be fucking true. It just couldn't. If it was…

In the book, there was a few detailed stories about wolves who tried to break the imprint. Many simply gave up along the way, but others were determined to end it. That is, until their wolves went crazy, broke free, and ran to their imprint as soon as they could, sometimes again and again. It got to the point in one case where one was driven completely insane by their inner fight with their wolf, and while Bella would make one sexy crazed chick, it wasn't exactly a part of her future plans.

Come on, this couldn't be it, right? There had to be one success story, just one. That's all Bella needed. Desperately, she started flipping through pages, trying to find a story that didn't end in insanity, the wolf giving up, or the imprint giving in. However, the title of one story stopped her cold.

It was another denial case. The woman didn't want to be with the wolf, and the wolf didn't want to be with the woman. It led to explosive fights, then explosive bouts of fucking, but the two always went back into denial. Then, one day, the woman's jealous ex husband killed her. The man was so wracked with grief that he murdered the woman's ex in revenge, only to soon after follow his imprint into oblivion. Apparently, it was impossible for a wolf to live long after his mate passed, whether they had given in to the imprint of not.

Never before had Bella felt so sick, not even in the days before her first time shifting. At this rate, she really was going to be screwed for the rest of eternity and beyond.

Unless...maybe there was still a way out? It wasn't like Bella had read even half of the imprint books, right? Surely one could give her a chance at a normal, happy, non-Rosalie infested life.

Immediately, her wolf surged to the surface, sensing Bella's weakness. It raged inside of her, furious at the idea of a life without Rosalie. Bella was so distracted that she nearly knocked over the entire shelf, only to right it at the last minute.

Even worse, she then heard the voices of Quil Sr and Billy closing in. They must be coming in to check or research something like they actually wanted to help. Fucking old buttfucks of a bitch.

Still, panic was surging, and she was a second away from shifting. _Okay, okay, we'll talk with her! For fucks sake!_ Bella inwardly exclaimed.

Immediately, her wolf settled down. She could see it sit in her mind, a pleased look on its face. Bitch.

The elders were closing in fast-for them, anyways-and Bella knew she had to get out of there. She ran towards the window she had come in through, jumped into the air, used the window sill to propel her forward, and landed outside with a graceful ease.

 _Damn, am I badass,_ Bella thought with a grin. That grin fell off her face seconds later as she realized she was still holding something in her hand; the imprint book.

"Fuck. Fucking fuck. Somebody just fuck me already," Bella hissed out loud, only for her wolf to give her an image of a naked Rosalie writhing under her, making Bella flush, now ten times hornier than before. "Not helping," she growled at her wolf, which only seemed to make the wolf happier.

Desperately, she turned towards the window, wondering if she had time to jump back in and put the book back. Just as she thought it, she heard the door open, and Billy and Quil Sr came in.

"Quil, I love you like a brother, but this is getting ridiculous," Bella heard Billy complain. "We've looked through every single thing in here, from book to diary entry to letters. We're not going to find anything new."

Oh, what was this? Could something juicy be going on? Bella pressed herself against the wall as if one of them was actually athletic enough to somehow climb up the window to check if anyone was listening. It was a stupid move, seeing as Billy was disabled and Quil Sr was borderline obese, but Bella couldn't help it. She had long been trained to keep to the walls and shadows after having spent so long sneaking out of girls' houses when their dads got home.

"We need to," Quil Sr grumbled, sounding just as pissy as ever. "I need to know, Billy. I need to figure out what the hell is happening, and why _Isabella_ of all wolves became alpha."

 _Oh, of course it's about me,_ Bella thought with disgust. _Bet the old fucktard just couldn't imagine a woman, especially one that's such a corrupting influence, being in charge of anything other than the cooking._ Damn it, Bella wanted to punch the man all over again. Make that ugly mug of his even uglier, if that was possible.

"Some mysteries aren't meant to be solved. And you should be a little easier on her, Quil. After all, she _is_ -"

At that moment, Bella's phone started to ring. It wasn't on vibrate, and it wasn't a quiet ringtone either. Oh no, it was a full on blast of "I'm sexy and I know it" which Bella had only put as her ringtone as an inside joke between her and Jacob.

"What's that? Is someone here?" Quil Sr demanded, and Bella could hear he was trying to search the room, maybe even trying to run. At any other time, Bella would have cracked up at the idea of Quil Sr running, but now, all she could do was let out a low curse and take off as fast as she could.

As she ran, she answered Jake's call, saying, "This better be fucking good."

In the background of her mind, Bella's wolf whined, reminding her of someone else that her wolf felt they needed to talk to so much more.

 _Soon,_ Bella assured the wolf, not wanting her to go haywire again. _I'll call her as soon as this is over. I have the Cullens' number, okay?_ The elders had insisted on her putting it in her phone so she wouldn't be "blindsided" by the leeches calling her and accidentally give away any important information.

In response, her wolf howled triumphantly. Soon, Rosalie would be theirs. Whether Bella wanted it or not.

"Hey Rose, guess who called? And to think, it was even during dinner time. For shame," Emmett tutted, holding out their landline phone, despite the fact that the conversation had long ended.

"I'm not in the mood, Emmett," Rosalie snarled, having to state something that anybody could tell with just a glance. While still as gorgeous as always, Rosalie's eyes were pitch black despite having just fed-for the fourth time that week-and her hair, for once, wasn't one hundred percent perfect. To top it off, her entire body was strained, and she looked ready to murder anybody and everybody in a second.

"Yeah, I know. But I promised to talk to you; after all, the caller called _just_ for you." With this, Emmett grinned and wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

Rosalie let out an irritated hiss. If this was another boy calling to ask her out, she really was going to slaughter someone. She really just wasn't in the mood, especially now that she was being driven crazy by her need to find Bella.

Violet, seeing just how close Rosalie was to snapping, moved a little closer to Emmett, taking his hand and giving it a warning squeeze. Usually she wouldn't care if her mate got a beating from his best friend, but with Rosalie so on edge, she doubted he'd get out of it with all of his limbs attached.

"Aw, you're no fun," Emmett complained with a pout as he set down the phone, but he quickly brightened again. "That was Bella. Y'know, the big alpha wolf?"

Rosalie's eyes widened, the quickly narrowed with fury as her heart gave a painful squeeze. "Go on. What did that mongrel want?"

"Why, she wanted to meet up with you, Rosie dear," Emmett replied, hugging his mate since he couldn't hug Rosalie. "At the border where we all met up with her and the pack for the first time. She says she wants to talk about everything that's going on between you two."

Rosalie scowled, her entire body freezing up as she fought off the urge to just run straight to the location at that very moment. "That's ridiculous," she snapped, whirling away from the happy couple. "What, does she think that I'm just going to come at her beck and call? That I'm just going to act like one of her eager little whores?" The image of what Bella had been doing with the redhead flashed through Rosalie's mind, which made Rosalie want to kill Bella all the more. But even as she felt the urge for murder, the other, more instinctive part of her was telling her to just suck it up and go. To find and please her mate, make it so that Bella would never think about so much as looking at another girl again.

"Rose, I really think you should go," Violet said, knowing exactly what path Rosalie's thoughts were going down.

"No. Hell no. There's no way in hell I'm going to run over at Bella Black's beck and call," Rosalie spat, then stormed right up to her room. The door slammed behind her, making the whole house shake with the force of it.

Everyone then wisely decided it would be best to leave Rosalie alone as the furious woman paced back and forth. She hated how much she wanted, _needed,_ to go, hated how hard it was for her to stop herself from giving in. It was near painful for her to keep herself from even leaving her room.

Unknowingly to Rosalie, she had started pacing. Pacing and pacing and pacing...hours passed by as Rosalie struggled with her instinctive need to go to her mate and her stubborn bitchy nature telling her to stay away.

With each step she took back and forth across her room, it became harder and harder to simply not jump out of the window and race to the meeting place. And of course, it was beyond impossible for her to think about anything other than Bella. Bella, the stupid, cocky, impulsive brat of an alpha, who was also incredibly gorgeous. Gorgeous, and idiotic enough to attack one of her own wolves to protect her. Even though Bella hadn't been in her right mind and Rosalie didn't need protecting.

The fire in Bella's eyes...would she see it again if she went? A part of her craved to see that intense look on her face, whether it was because Bella's anger was focused on her, or if the look was on Bella's face for a different reason.

Why did Rosalie feel this way? It's because she wanted a challenge, wanted to fight that stupid mutt, because...because she felt like it, that's why. That's right, Rosalie Hale had no reason she had to explain herself. She could hate whoever she wanted, with or without reason. Even if that person was her imprint.

Pausing in her pacing, Rosalie walked over to the large mirror she had hanging from her wall. Bella's comment about not being attracted to blondes rose to her mind, and she couldn't help staring at herself. After a moment of examining her flawless looks, a bitter laugh almost escaped her throat.

She could count on one hand the people that hadn't been attracted to her looks, did one of them have to be her mate?

No. Bella wasn't her mate, no matter what her instincts screamed at her. And Rosalie didn't care if Bella thought she was gorgeous or not; she simply would feel delighted if Rosalie had been able to taunt Bella with her looks. She'd do anything to fuck with the tall brunette.

The need to go to her mate almost doubled as an image of Bella waiting for her crossed Rosalie's mind. Letting out a snarl of frustration, she muttered, "Fine. But I'm only going so I can tell that mongrel off in person."

With that in mind, Rosalie launched herself out of her window, hit the ground, and started running towards the treaty line, and she was running fast. Not because she didn't want Bella to wait, but because, in her mind, she believed the sooner Rosalie got this over with, the better.

As she thought this, she came to a realization that it was dark out and started to slow, about to change her mind. It had been at least four hours since Emmett had taken Bella's call, and there was no way that Bella would still be waiting-

Right at that moment, right before Rosalie considered turning back-despite the fact that her instincts were insisting she go to her mate no matter what-Rosalie caught a very familiar scent. She was immediately irritated, like she always reacted when she sensed Bella, but strangely enough, she was excited too.

"No way. No way could she have actually waited for me to get here," Rosalie muttered to herself, once again picking up the pace as she followed the scent to its scent. As she neared the treaty line, she all but burst out of the trees, her eyes immediately landing on a tall figure slouched against a tree, her hands shoved deep into her pockets.

Catching sight of Rosalie, not to mention having heard her arrival, Bella lifted her head and gave the vampire a sheepish grin. "Hey."

Rosalie's mouth opened, but not a single word came out; the girl had actually left her speechless. It took her a few minutes, but she finally managed to say something. And that something was; "What are you doing here?"

Arching her eyebrows, Bella gave Rosalie her signature troublemaker smirk. "Waiting for you, obviously." Rosalie started to speak, and just by the look in the vampire's eyes, Bella could see Rosalie was ready to start trouble. "It's up to you, Rose. Do you wanna talk, or do you just want to trade insults until we try to kill each other?"

For a long moment, Rosalie examined the alpha. She took note of the way she looked, the fact that there was not even a challenge in Bella's eyes, her stance, her body...which she might have taken more time to check out then the rest of the wolf, but she didn't care. The girl was gorgeous and, as always, wasn't wearing much; only a pair of shorts and a tight shirt that barely covered her breasts.

Rosalie couldn't help it; she was intrigued. And, in all honesty, she didn't think she was capable of leaving Bella, not after she got to see her again. While it had only been a day since they last saw each other, it felt like an eternity to her instincts, which was what had her rooted to the spot, refusing to leave until she fully drank in Bella's appearance.

 _Here. Mate. Need. Take._ Those were just a few words being tossed around in Rosalie's head, and there were quite a few more that weren't anywhere near PG appropriate.

Damn it, why couldn't her body just leave her alone? Why couldn't she spend a single day without being drawn to Bella's side?

"So? It's your choice, Rose. Talk or fight," Bella said, taking a step towards the vampire, dangerously close to the treaty line. Neither noticed, or cared; for some reason, both of them were completely entranced by the other's gaze, unable to look away.

Something inside of Rosalie tightened at the nickname, which made her nearly hiss out loud with irritation. "Only my friends call me Rose," she said after a moment, when she felt she had gained enough control of herself. This time, she was the one to interrupt Bella, who had clearly been about to reply with a sarcastic comment. "Let's talk."

Letting out a huff of surprise, Bella sat down on her side of the border, getting as close to the border as she dared, her eyes burning with an intensity that would have taken Rosalie's breath away had she needed it.

"Yeah. Let's."


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

"What are you doing?" Rosalie asked, scowling as she stared down at the alpha wolf, who was currently sitting only a few feet away, sprawled out in a comfortable way as if she owned the entire area.

"Sitting. It's something that humans do," Bella said with a cocky grin up at the blonde. "Surely you know how to do it, right?"

"You aren't human," Rosalie replied bluntly as she crossed her arms over her chest, refusing to even gift that other question of Bella's with an answer.

"Well what else am I then? I might be part wolf, but I still feel human. I'm certainly not a monster, that's for damn sure. Just like you aren't," Bella said with a lighthearted laugh, unaware of how her words hit close to home with the blonde.

Rosalie sat down on her side of the border, ignoring the raised eyebrow from Bella, and said, "So why did you call me here, anyways?"

"Didn't you hear me the first time? We need to talk," Bella said, only to get an irritated glare from the vampire. She felt her wolf perk up inside of her, excited to meet what she perceived as a challenge, but Bella told her wolf to calm the fuck down. Realizing she probably shouldn't tease Rosalie too much, she tried to become more serious and business like, but couldn't think of how to do that.

But really, how could Bella act serious when her entire personality demanded she be the opposite?

As Bella thought and struggled to become all alpha-commando, Rosalie simply watched the wolf as emotions and expressions crossed the brunette's face. At one point, her hand actually started to move towards Bella, wanting to smooth the crease between Bella's brows, and she had to grab her own wrist to stop herself.

"So talk already," Rosalie snapped, causing Bella to look up at the vampire with a kind of shock, as if she had completely forgotten that Rosalie was there.

"Oh, yeah, sorry. I almost forgot how to do that," Bella said sarcastically, but quickly shoved her sarcasm down. She didn't want to push Rosalie away, after all. Not until all of this shit was taken care of. "Okay, just hear me out. As you might have already guessed, you're my imprint. And as we clearly hate each other's guts, I decided to do some digging and figure out how to break the bond."

Immediately, Rosalie felt a pain in her heart nearly as painful as her turning. While the rational part of her knew that there was no way to break a mating bond, at least not on a vampire's end, it was agony to know her mate was trying. It made her want to ring the alpha's neck, then fuck and claim her and show her that Bella couldn't be anybody else's but hers. Of course, her desires didn't come from the rational part of Rosalie and the vampire knew it, but that didn't make her desires any less powerful.

Damn this mutt. If Rosalie had just never laid eyes on her, everything would have been fine, and Rosalie wouldn't feel so much agitating agony.

"And did you figure anything out?" Rosalie asked in a surprisingly calm voice.

"Yeah. And let's just say, it doesn't look too good for me," Bella said with a frown. "Which is why we have to do something about this." She then gestured between herself and Rosalie, as if things needed to be made clear.

"Obviously," Rosalie said, fighting the urge to roll her eyes.

Bella frowned, holding back a growl. Her wolf, which had been rejoicing over laying eyes on her mate, suddenly became very unhappy. She didn't like that Rosalie agreed that something had to be done about what was between them, especially when she could tell that what had to be done wasn't claiming and mating.

Shoving down her unhappy wolf, Bella forced a grin. "Right. So, what we need to do is fuck."

Rosalie's startled eyes widened, and she couldn't stop herself from staring at Bella in disbelief. Bella's own wolf seemed just as confused as Rosalie; she knew of Bella's feeling on the matter, and doubted that Bella was ready to just give in and mate.

" _What?"_ Rosalie demanded, finally getting a hold of herself.

"C'mon, it's the obvious answer," Bella said, certain she was right. She _had_ to be, it was the only way she could survive otherwise. "This whole bond shit is pulling us together, and it's going to explode eventually. Hell, it already has." The alpha's thoughts moved to when she felt the desire to protect Rosalie, how it felt to have the blonde beneath her with Bella's fangs on her throat. She would never admit it out loud, but Rosalie was definitely gorgeous. Not to mention her body…

Rosalie could smell Bella's arousal in the air, and her own body started to respond. It was almost as if there was a voice in her head screaming at her, telling her to give in and have sex with her mate, to taste and touch and claim every inch of the alpha and prove that nobody else but Rosalie could do. To make Bella see that Rosalie was the one for her, and would be for the rest of eternity.

Of course, Rosalie did everything she could to squash all of that stupidity down as she started to shake with fury. "Are you out of your mind?" she hissed. "Who the fuck would ever want to fuck you?"

"Quite a few girls, actually," Bella replied cockily. "You included." She could smell Rosalie's arousal, after all, and she was definitely the type of person who would throw that in the blonde's face.

Rosalie stood, fighting the urge to cross the border and strangle the brunette. _Then show her how good you can be,_ Rosalie's traitorous instincts seemed to whisper, making Rosalie even more furious than before. That's it, she needed to kill something.

Realizing that she was losing the vampire, Bella jumped to her feet. "Come on, think about it Rose," Bella coaxed.

 _Don't call me that!_ Rosalie all but howled in her own mind as for a moment, just a moment, her resolve to either attack or walk away from Bella weakened.

"Seriously though, you have to be in pain from this thing," Bella said, her voice soft and persuasive. "I know I am. It hurts all the damn time. Every second of every day, my wolf wants to go to you. It drives me crazy."

Once again, Rosalie's resolve weakened, her insides twisting at the knowledge that her mate was suffering. Yet at the same time, knowing that she was driving Bella crazy was also the best thing Rosalie had heard in years.

"We just need to fuck once in awhile. If we stop fighting it all the time, I know it'll keep the edge off. We'll be able to survive, at least somewhat."

Now, even Rosalie's instincts were at war with itself. It was telling Rosalie that she should give in and find a way to completely claim Bella so that Bella could never stop wanting her, but those instincts were also telling her not to, that it might make their relationship unstable, like it wasn't already about to explode anyways.

"You want to fuck so bad?" Rosalie growled, glaring at the alpha wolf, silently cursing her in every way she could think of for putting herself into this situation in the first place. "Then go fuck yourself. I'd rather be burned alive a thousand times over then have to have sex with you, you disgusting mutt."

Bella recoiled from Rosalie's words, then doubled over in pain as her wolf roared to life, threatening to tear Bella apart from the inside. Bella gritted her teeth, trying to fight her wolf, refusing to give up control.

Rosalie didn't see Bella in pain; she was already long gone, knowing that if she stayed, she might actually give in.

As she got home and opened the door, she could hear a wolf's agonized howl in the distance. The need to go back to Bella, to make sure the wolf was alright, was nearly enough to kill her. But she didn't go.

She just broke the door frame instead.

* * *

The next two weeks were absolute torture. Not only were things crazy, what with the elders all but biting her ass and Quil Jr turning into a wolf-which only made Quil Sr come after Bella even harder-but Bella was definitely being punished by her wolf for fucking things up. Bella then did everything she could think of to retaliate, because it wasn't her fault that she got an imprint she never wanted and that she was trying to figure out a way to be free.

The agony inside continued, driving her to the border every day to try to catch a glimpse of Rosalie. Sometimes Bella would think she saw her, maybe by catching a glimpse of blonde hair or Rosalie's form, but at the same time, she wondered if she had been driven so mad that she was hallucinating.

Of course, Bella had to do her best to be a good alpha despite all of this. She actually managed to organize pack patrols, making sure the newer wolves partnered with older ones and that no wolf went anywhere alone. Not only that, but she also found time at least once or twice a week for pack play time, so the pack could bond and have fun, pretending that all of those heavy responsibilities no teenager should bear didn't exist. Bella even started to mouth off to the elders only about ten to twenty times an hour instead of trying to cram as much sass into every answer and word that she could.

Seeing as Bella felt like she was being killed from the inside out, she had to admit; she was doing pretty good. And she made a habit of rubbing it into the elders' faces every chance she got. The best part of the last two weeks was when Quil Sr had pointed out that Jake was supposed to be the alpha because of bloodlines, Jacob had cracked up laughing. After pointing out that he was nearing sixteen years of age, he wasn't anywhere near mature-something he admitted proudly-and he had no desire for such crazy responsibility. He had also questioned Quil Sr's sanity, albeit a little accidentally, for wanting to try and change up pack dynamics when Bella was doing such a great job. All of the pack agreed with Jake, even Quil Jr, which had made Quil Sr turn so red Bella was sure he was about to have a stroke.

Speaking of Quil Jr, it was great to have him as a part of the pack. Originally, Bella had felt guilty, despite being unable to control when the kids would shift, because she had taken herself and Quil's other two best friends, leaving the kid alone. And while Quil was quite a ball of energy and a huge jokester, even he had to have been feeling abandoned. But now that he was part of the pack, he was louder and crazier than ever.

The only other problems besides "She Who Shall Not Be Named Unless One Desires An Asswhooping Courtesy Of The Alpha" Cullen, involved the imprints and school. The imprints were a problem because they were happening all around Bella, making the hole in Bella's chest feel a hundred times worse. Rebecca came home for vacation and imprinted on Paul, turning Paul into a sappy weirdo, Jared imprinted on Kim, Sam was still imprinted on Emily, and so on. Meaning, all of the imprints were all people Bella knew. Many of these imprints were also people she had sex with sometime in the past. And for some reason, despite being Alpha, these imprints acted like Bella was a three year old who couldn't take care of herself, constantly nagging at her and making sure she ate right and was sleeping okay.

This led to school, of course, and how Bella was doing, not to mention a few threats-mainly from Rachel-that Bella had better keep up with schoolwork and graduate at least with a B average. Nobody seemed to care that Bella had an aversion to the place, and with good reason too, what with all of those crazy rumors, which only appeared to get crazier, flying around. Everybody who clearly wasn't in the werewolf loop gave Bella dirty, fearful, and many still lusting looks, even teachers. Ew, the teachers didn't give Bella lusting looks. Thankfully, that was just reserved to the student body.

Anyways, Bella had it rough. Every day she went to school, she was called out by a teacher, given a lecture, and clearly being hated on for "corrupting the youths." But damn, the way the teachers made it sound, Bella would think she was converting the entire female population into lesbians and creating a harem.

There was no escape from stress, or the torture. Despite everything she had to deal with, these problems still paled in comparison to Bella's Rosalie problem. Which also included Bella's wolf problem, because even though Rosalie wouldn't leave her mind for a second, her wolf still found it necessary to throw every memory with the blonde at her, reminding her of Rosalie's scent, body, voice…

It got to the point that Bella honestly considered making another desperate call to Rosalie on many occasions. Then she would remind herself that she would have no idea what to say, was definitely not going to do something so pathetic, and she'd be damned if she gave up and crawled back to Rosalie, pleading for a glimpse or a touch. There was no way in hell she'd give that bitchy blonde the satisfaction.

These choices of Bella's have led the alpha to patrolling the border more than any of the other wolves. Not because of some skewed view of responsibility, but because this was the only way she could catch a glimpse of Rosalie without breaking the treaty. And hey, if Rosalie actually caught Bella staring at her, it wasn't like it would be clear that Bella was low-grade stalking her. Clearly, the wolf would just be patrolling. If anything, Rosalie would be the one stalking, since she didn't actually have a patrol job forced upon her and all.

So yes, Bella was patrolling at all hours every day, hoping to get a glimpse of the iciest bitch queen that ever existed. Besides the fact that she was patrolling with Jacob, nothing else was any different.

Or so Bella thought, until she caught a scent.

Immediately, Bella stiffened, a snarl tearing out of her wolven throat. Jacob came to attention next to her, furiously sniffing the air.

The smell of sugary bleach was faint due to distance, but it was also unmistakable. No one had crossed the border; Bella and Jacob could simply scent the vampires because of the windflow. What was upsetting wasn't that they were catching the scent of vampires, it was that these vamps were new.

There was no doubt about it. While each vampire had the same sickeningly sweet smell, there was always an undercurrent of something else, something unique. Even if Bella had never met Rosalie, she would have been able to tell that each vampire's smell was different. And for some reason, these particular scents made the fur on the back of Bella's neck stand on end, warning her of danger. Since Bella doubted that these vampires were with the Cullens, she went from pining puppy to alpha wolf.

 _Everyone, new vampire scents from across the border!_ Bella barked in her mind. _I need everyone with me. Some of you will need to shift to human, call the others who aren't shifted, and tell them to get their assess over here immediately._

 _Yes, Alpha!_ Sam, Jared, Leah, Embry, and Jacob replied, right before Leah and Embry faded from the link ad Sam and Jared started towards Bella.

As Bella waited, she gave Jacob a look questioning his sanity. _Damn, Jake, what was that? You do realize you're right next to me, don't you? Answering my command like that just felt weird._ It didn't help that Jacob had actually moved closer to Bella after she had issued the order.

If a wolf could look sheepish, that was what Jacob appeared to be. _I couldn't help it!_ He protested, looking at the ground. _I just felt compelled to follow your order._

 _Weirdo,_ Bella retorted, then bristled once more as the scent got stronger, then disappeared. Damn it, the wind had shifted.

Bella had realized this just as her entire pack had shown up in their mind link, but this didn't make any of them stop. They kept running towards Bella, determined to meet with their alpha and pick up any possible hint of the new scents.

For a moment, Bella glanced back towards the woods, in the direction where she had left her clothes. She couldn't help but feel a little worried, not just for her pack, but for the Cullens as well. Sure, they were a bunch of leeches, but they were kinda alright in Bella's book. Should she take a moment to shift to human, call, and warn them?

Just as she considered it, the wind shifted once more. It was easy for Bella to catch and identify the scents. There were three new vampires, seven Cullens, a human, and...Rosalie.

 _Danger!_

Knowing that Rosalie was so close to three possible threats, something in Bella snapped. Half crazed with the need to protect her mate, Bella lunged in the direction of where the scents were coming from. Before she could make it more than a few steps, her wolves were on her, holding her back. She snapped and snarled, trying to shake them off without actually hurting them, but they weren't about to let go.

 _Bella, calm down! You need to calm down!_ Jared pleaded.

 _Think of treaty. You break it, and we're all screwed!_ Sam's voice added.

 _Bella, come back!_ Seth piped in.

 _Damn it, Bella Black, now isn't the time to go crazy. I know what you're feeling, but there's too much at risk!_ Leah added with a snarl that somehow sounded both frustrated yet understanding.

 _Cool your mojo, she's going to be fine!_ That was Quil, that time.

 _Please, Bella,_ Embry added quietly, grunting as he was kicked in the stomach. But he still refused to let go.

 _Come on, Alpha. Now's the time to show that great restraint you have._ Paul's voice, trying to taunt her. Willing to take the brunt of Bella's rage and desperation if it just meant snapping Bella out of it.

 _Bells, this is Rosalie. She's strong enough to go toe to toe with you,_ Jacob was the last to speak, staring right into Bella's near feral eyes. _She's going to be fine. Nothing is going to happen to her. Her coven won't let it._

Realizing what was happening, what Bella had almost done, filled Bella with horror. But at the same time, she was detached from that emotion, maybe even detached from her own body as she collapsed in a heap on the ground.

Once Bella came fully back to herself, she would apologize to each member of her pack, as many times as they needed to hear. But now, all she could do was stare in the direction of the vampires, desperate to see her mate, needing to see if her mate was okay and to kill whoever dared to harm her.

But now, with her pack surrounding her, offering help and comfort and sanity, all she could do was lay there and release a broken howl.

* * *

 _Author's Note: Yes, my brain might actually be fixed and able to write again, but I'm not yet one hundred percent sure. Also, if any of you realized what's going on with the vampires and realize that all of these wolves have turned seemingly incredibly early compared to the timeline in the books, I have my reasons. Reasons you shall not get to know, because that would mean spoilers._


	11. Chapter 11

_Author's Note: To those who were hoping I'd update something else, I'm really sorry. Right now I'm just trying to write, and I'm going where my muse takes me._

* * *

Chapter 11

Emmett was grinning wildly at Rosalie as he made a show of warming up his pitching skills before he actually threw a ball at Rosalie. It was a bad move on his part; Rosalie was so wound up from ignoring her instincts and her mate that she already knew, the second the pitch was close enough, she'd send it flying right into Emmett's stomach. Sure, the only damage done would be to the ball, but it would get her message across.

The blonde wasn't even in the mood to be playing baseball in the first place, but Alice and Edward had insisted, wanting to have a real family outing with Angela involved. Despite the mood Rosalie had been in since her encounter with a certain aggravating alpha, even Esme and Carlisle had insisted she join the game. Maybe they thought it would help Rosalie work out some of her aggression issues.

Rosalie's mind flashed back to her last real encounter with Bella. It felt like an eternity ago, but of course, with her memory, she might as well have been remembering something from a few minutes ago.

" _So, what we need to do is fuck."_

" _We just need to fuck once in awhile."_

" _Every second of every day, my wolf wants to go to you."_

Just remembering the words that Bella had spoken was enough to nearly drive Rosalie insane. The look in the alpha's eyes, the pleading in her voice, not to mention Rosalie's own increasing desires to give in. It had been so hard not to simply find that annoying mutt, treaty or no, and show her how much Rosalie wanted her. No, not that. Rosalie would show Bella how much Bella needed her, make it so that Bella would be begging for more, begging Rosalie to never leave her again.

The idea was beyond tantalizing, but of course, Rosalie had no idea how to make that happen. Going to Bella felt like giving in, and she wasn't about to admit how much Rosalie wanted the gorgeous brunette. Hell, even if they did meet up properly, Rosalie wouldn't even have any idea what to say. It was like they couldn't talk for a minute without fighting. And while Rosalie wouldn't mind rolling around with the alpha, she doubted it would fix many, if any at all, of their problems.

"I don't get why you don't just call her already."

 _Crack!_

Without thought, Rosalie whirled and slammed her bat down on Edward's head, breaking it in half. Edward looked stunned for a second, but quickly got over it.

"See? You wouldn't be like this if you two could just talk it out already," Edward continued, clearly not fearing for his life like he should. Especially with Rosalie's black eyed glare of death focused on him.

"Why don't you go take care of your human before I decide to take off your head?" Rosalie replied in a low hiss, turning to look pointedly at the girl sitting on the sidelines next to Esme. Of course, Rosalie was still openly glaring, making the girl flinch and cower with fear. Rosalie let up, but only so she could turn her glare back on her brother. "Do it."

"Okay, okay," Edward said with a sigh, running a hand through his hair. "Excuse me for trying to help."

"You should just mind your own business," Rosalie snapped.

"I would, if it didn't feel like you were screaming your thoughts all the time. Trust me, if I could stay out of your head, I would." Edward couldn't help but cringe a little, and Rosalie knew he had definitely seen some of her more...sexual thoughts.

Damn it, Rosalie usually had better control than this. If it weren't for that fucking mutt… But since she clearly had no Bella to take it out on, she glared at Edward's back instead as he walked over to Angela. And when Angela risked a curious glance in Rose's direction, she focused her glare on Angela too.

It wasn't that Rosalie hated the human. It was simply that she hated what Edward had done and was planning. To have revealed himself to Angela, with no plans to turn her, was one of the most ridiculous ideas Rosalie had ever heard of. Being human among a large coven of vampires was just plain idiotic.

 _But what would you do if you found Bella as a human?_ a traitorous little voice in the back of Rosalie's head spoke. _Would you have simply left your mate alone? Would you have approached? And, one day, would you have been willing to turn her?_

Well, she had already made sure Carlisle turned Emmett all those years ago, so turning shouldn't be the problem, as long as that was Bella's choice. Although, the chance of Bella being able to stay human for any length of time would definitely be doubtful. Not only would Rosalie be hyper alert of any dangers to an annoying extreme, but she'd definitely want to touch and fuck, and that wasn't quite possible if Bella was a breakable human…

Damn it, why was Rosalie even thinking about this? She didn't even like the mutt! She was infuriating!

Rosalie squeezed her eyes shut in an attempt to get her crazy emotions under control, opening them a moment later so she could stomp over to where the extra bats were lying about. Grabbing one, she stomped back to home base and took up her stance.

"Pitch the ball already!" she snarled at Emmett, clearly ready to get the show on the road. Maybe violence was the only answer in this situation.

 _Well, there's also the option of incredibly rough, hot sex,_ that traitorous voice in Rosalie's mind spoke once more, bringing on the desire for Rosalie to slam her head against something. Anything, really, as long as that voice would just _shut up._ She did not need that inner voice to fuck with her even more.

Emmett threw the ball just then, and Rosalie swung, knocking it right out of the clearing. Alice started to chase after the ball, only to freeze, but Rosalie didn't notice. She was too busy running the bases, trying to pour as much aggression as she could into every step.

Rosalie made it home with nobody trying to stop her, and it was only then that Rosalie realized that Alice was stuck in a vision. At first, Rosalie wasn't too concerned. Alice got visions all the time, after all, and many of them were over incredibly minor stuff. However, Rosalie's unconcerned feelings changed on the matter when Alice came out of her vision, looking absolutely terrified.

"No!" Edward snarled, grabbing Angela and pulling her tightly into his arms in a furiously protective manner.

"What did you see?" Jasper asked worriedly as he wound his arms around his mate, clearly sensing her emotions and needing to do something about it. The man had always appeared to be in the most pain when he felt he couldn't do enough for his mate. He would fight Alice's scarier visions if he could.

"They're coming," Alice whispered, her eyes still distant, locked on whatever she had seen. "Three vampires. They heard us playing, and became curious."

"I'm getting Angela home, now," Edward spat, baring his teeth at whatever threat would come his way.

"Don't. It's too late, and they're too close. If you leave with her now, there's a chance they'll become curious, and…" Alice trailed off. She didn't need to finish her sentence; everybody knew what might happen, even if Angela was heavily guarded.

"Shit!" Violet hissed, moving towards her mate instinctively, not to feel protected, but because, despite her small frame, she felt the need to protect Emmett.

"Everybody, gather together. There's a chance they won't notice her if she's among us," Carlisle said, and everybody instinctively listened. Rosalie heard Edward assuring Angela that everything was going to be fine and that he wouldn't let anything happen to her, making Rosalie want to roll her eyes.

Once everyone was together, all they could do was wait.

The vampires appeared out of the trees pretty quickly. There was a tall, lanky man with long blonde hair and a woman with untameable red curls, led by a black man with dreadlocks. The two in the back looked incredibly wild, like they couldn't even pass for human if they tried, but the man up front appeared different.

There was howling in the distance, causing the three newcomers to glance towards the sound curiously, but quickly dismiss it. They thought it was just a few wolves.

Rosalie, however, stiffened. Her head snapped in the direction of the sound, and she suddenly felt like she was in agony.

She _recognized_ those howls. It was Bella, and the wolf sounded like she was completely freaked out. Something was wrong, terribly wrong, and Rosalie needed to go make sure she was okay. It wasn't even her instincts demanding it-well, they actually were, but it was nothing more than background noise, nearly drowned out by Rosalie's own panic.

Just as Rosalie was about to take off, three pairs of hands subtly grabbed her, holding her still. Rosalie knew it was Emmett, Violet, and Jasper, but she didn't care. She _had_ to go to her mate, and she had to go now.

"My name is Laurent. This is James, and Victoria," the black man who seemed to be the leader announced, making Rosalie realize just where she was at the moment. And just how bad it would be for her family, and maybe even the wolves, if she did something suspicious in front of the three.

It was the knowledge that she might bring trouble right to Bella if she were to leave now that held Rosalie still. Sure, she appeared stoic on the outside. Inside, she was anything but. For all Rosalie knew, Bella could be dying while she just stood frozen like a fool.

Rosalie's ears were straining, but not for the nomads. She didn't even hear another word spoken by them. Instead, her ears were straining towards Bella, trying to understand what was going on.

Honestly, whatever was happening sounded like a fight. Rosalie had to assure herself that Bella could take care of herself, and that she had an entire pack to help her out. Bella would be okay, at least for awhile. She was the alpha, after all.

Even as she tried to assure herself, her body needed to move. And when one last, loud, mournful howl came from Bella, Rosalie almost felt like she her heart had been shattered.

Whatever happened, despite the silence, Bella had to still be alive. Rosalie would know in her soul if she wasn't. Right?

Her eyes moved to where the nomads had been, surprised to only find one left. Carlisle said something about the Denalis, and then he was gone.

Immediately, Rosalie moved to run for the wolves, only to be grabbed by Edward.

"Where do you think you're going? Didn't you hear what Laurent said? Didn't you see James's interest in Angela? We have to stick together and figure out what to do," Edward snapped at her, panic clear in his eyes.

Little did he realize, but Rosalie was so far past panic she was basically insane. She jerked her arm out of Edward's grip, only to step closer, into Edward's personal space. "And didn't you hear those howls? That was _Bella_. She needs me."

"Oh, so now you want to go to her? I bet she's fine," Edward retorted.

"But I don't know that," Rosalie hissed back. Sneering, she added, "And, if anything, your little human is the one who's safe. At least she's right in front of you, while Bella…" It felt like Rosalie was being choked just thinking about it. If anything happened to Bella, if the wolf was even injured while Rosalie had just been standing in a field, doing nothing, Rosalie would never forgive herself. Screw pride, and screw her need to punch Bella on a minutely basis when they were within ten feet of each other.

"James is planning," Alice piped in, clearly checking out the future. "We have hours before he tries anything, Edward."

"But we need to figure out what to do!" Edward all but exploded. "Angela is in danger, don't you understand?"

"Edward, it's okay. Rosalie should-" Angela started.

Whirling towards the human girl, Edward gripped her tightly, but not enough to hurt. He looked to be in agony as he said, "I can't lose you."

"And I can't lose Bella!" Rosalie shouted. At any other time she would have surprised herself even. But not now. Not with Bella possibly hurt or in danger, and not with the strange, eerie silence coming from where Rosalie had last heard Bella.

"Go, Rose. Just be safe," Esme said, understanding clear in her eyes. "If we need you, we'll call."

Rosalie didn't even need permission to go at this point, but she took that as a signal that at least no one was going to follow her. Filled with frantic energy, Rosalie took off without another word, running as fast as she could in the direction she had last heard Bella.

The run took much too long in Rosalie's opinion, although it had to have taken only a few minutes. But a few minutes, even a few seconds, could be the difference between life and death, and Rosalie felt like every second it took to get there could mean that she would get there a second too late.

She heard a strange yip as the wind blew by her, and that was all she needed to pinpoint Bella's location as she pushed herself to go even faster.

Rosalie burst onto the scene, and would have run straight across the border without a care in the world, had she not found Bella and what had to be every other wolf in the pack standing there. Bella, in wolf form, was staring at her with bright yet unreadable eyes, the alpha's paws actually on the border, only a few centimeters away from breaking the treaty.

Rosalie froze, her eyes roaming over every inch of Bella's body, looking for injuries. She didn't see any, and she also didn't smell any blood, but that wasn't enough. How could she know her mate was uninjured if she couldn't actually see under Bella's thick fur?

"Bella," Rosalie spoke softly, taking a step towards her wolf. As she did so, all of the other wolves stood, some growling uneasily. But as Rosalie took a step forward, they all took a hesitant step back. There were a few more uneasy growls and yips, but neither Rosalie or Bella noticed. They only had eyes for each other, and like Rosalie was looking Bella over thoroughly, Bella appeared to be doing the same.

A silent communication passed between the wolves. Apparently something was decided, because all but Bella withdrew silently into the wolves, leaving the two girls alone. A little sliver of sense in the back of Bella's mind let Bella know that they were going to run the perimeter, checking for those new vampires and any other dangers. That was great; it was nice to know that they were smart enough to do some work without her.

Rosalie looked nice too. And not bloody at all, which was a huge relief. Not enough to completely calm Bella, but enough to stop her from growing crazy.

There was a strange, almost hesitant look in Rosalie's eyes, coupled with fear. It was a look that worried Bella, because hesitance and fear was not something that Rosalie Cullen ever seemed to feel. It looked completely foreign, and Bella felt her heart drop.

Something bad had happened to Rosalie after all. And Bella hadn't been there to protect her.

"Can you…?" Rosalie started as she crept closer to the treaty line, only to pause as she heard Bella's heart rate pick up immensely. What was it? Was it danger? But what could Bella hear, see, or smell that Rosalie couldn't?

Before Rosalie could ask Bella if a threat was still present, Bella shifted back to human. Rosalie only got a glimpse of the naked girl, but that was more than enough; it was now a screenshot forever in Rosalie's memory.

In the next second, Bella muttered a quiet, "Damn it all." And then Bella's arms were around the vampire, grabbing Rosalie and dragging her right across the border line and into Bella's tight embrace.

When that happened, it was easy to believe a fight would break out, simply judging by their past experiences together. Instead, Rosalie melted in Bella's arms, beyond relieved that Bella appeared to be uninjured. For once, there was no torment inside of the blonde. Instead, she felt such amazing peace and joy that it actually made her feel warm inside.

Clutching tightly to the alpha, Rosalie closed her eyes and breathed deeply, inhaling Bella's scent as she listened to Bella's furiously beating heart start to slow as the wolf relaxed. In turn, Bella nuzzled Rosalie's neck, breathing in Rosalie's scent just as deeply as Rosalie was breathing in hers.

Had anyone been watching the scene, they would have thought they were watching two old lovers be reunited. Nobody would have ever been able to believe that these were two women who would act like they were going to kill each other whenever they so much as made eye contact.

"Are you hurt?" Bella rumbled in Rosalie's ear, her voice sounding more wolf than human.

Surprised, Rosalie tried to pull back and look into Bella's eyes. She didn't get even a few centimeters away from Bella before the wolf tightened her grip with a warning growl, making it clear that the alpha didn't like Rosalie pulling away.

"No. Why would you think that?" Rosalie asked incredulously.

Bella let out a sigh of relief, her entire body relaxing as she rested her head on Rosalie's shoulder. Her grip on the blonde tightened a little further, as if she believed that Rosalie could still be taken away from her. "I scented three new vampires. They smelled dangerous, and I could tell that they were near you."

"Is that all that happened?" Rosalie asked, absently nuzzling Bella's collarbone.

"That I know of. Why? Did something else happen? Did they try to hurt you?" Bella demanded, starting to work herself up into a frenzy. She calmed quickly as Rosalie shushed her and stroked up and down Bella's back.

Rosalie almost laughed aloud, partly out of disbelief, partly out of humor. If nothing had happened, that meant that Rosalie had gotten herself worked up, fearing that Bella would be killed, simply because Bella had gotten herself worked up afraid for Rosalie's safety. The irony certainly didn't escape her.

"What? What's so funny?" Bella grumbled, delivering what felt like almost a disapproving nip to a spot behind Rosalie's ear. Somebody clearly didn't like being left out of the loop.

"Nothing," Rosalie murmured, about to laugh again, simply because Bella was being so adorable. That laugh died as Rosalie's hand wandered, and she realized that she was currently embracing a naked Bella Black. Now that she was coming back to herself, realizing that Bella was actually safe, she didn't know whether to be aroused, or aroused and pissy for revealing how scared she was for the mutt. Wasn't she supposed to make Bella beg for her, not the other way around? Rosalie Hale didn't do desperate, after all.

Bella froze, letting out a low rumble as she pulled back to stare into Rosalie's eyes, Bella's own eyes bright with desire as she scented Rosalie's arousal.

The world seemed to freeze as Bella leaned in, driven by instinct and her own desires, needing to taste and touch Rosalie. Half to assure herself that Rosalie really was alright, and half because she really, _really_ just wanted to kiss the blonde. She was actually pretty attractive, when she wasn't acting all bitchy.

Rosalie felt a strong desire to simply grab the girl and drag her into a hungry, heated kiss that would release all the pent up emotion between them, right before Rosalie started groping Bella's perfect body. She would've gone through with it, too, had her phone not let out a shrill ring the very moment before she started to go through with her plan.

Both girls jerked as if startled from their own private fantasy land, but Bella actually released Rosalie and stumbled back, a look of absolute horror on her face.

"What?" Rosalie snapped, pissed off-not at Bella, but at Edward, for daring to call at that very moment. She didn't give a fuck about the danger the human was in, had Rosalie really been necessary in protecting Angela at that very moment, she knew Alice or any other vampire would have called her instead. She was actually so angry, she glared into Bella's eyes and not her breasts, which she would have done in any other situation. "Disgusted that you nearly kissed the Ice Bitch?"

Bella swallowed hard and nodded in agreement, eyes still wide. "You have no idea how much this freaks me out, blondie," the alpha replied.

Bella might have been the one who wanted to fuck Rosalie as soon as possible, but she didn't actually expect to _feel_ anything when she was with the vampire. Well, she didn't expect to feel anything besides pleasure. The alpha actually believed that all that sappy emotional crap would never threaten to bubble up when she touched, let alone even looked at, Rosalie fucking Cullen.

Yet here Bella was, feeling things she had never felt before. And it absolutely terrified her.

"Look," Rosalie started, ignoring another call from Edward. At that point, she wasn't ready to just drop what had clearly been going on between them. Her usually cold body felt as if it was on fire, and after expecting to find Bella half dead, she was on an emotional high. One that might actually make Rosalie admit that she had feelings for the cocky mutt. "What's happening between us-"

"Nothing. There's absolutely nothing happening between us. This is a fluke," Bella said immediately, a note of panic clear in her voice. "It's the bonds at work. It's not us, damn it. We don't feel shit for each other."

At Bella's words, Rosalie's irritation spiked. She started to reach for the alpha, itching to get her hands wrapped around Bella's neck so she could choke some sense into her. But as she started to reach for Bella, the girl exploded into her wolf form and too off.

Rosalie let out a snarl and coiled to spring so she could launch herself at the wolf before she got very far, only to freeze as she realized where she was.

She was on La Push territory. Yes, Bella had been the one who dragged her over, but this could be seen as breaking the treaty. It definitely would be seen as an act of war if Rosalie were to tackle the pack alpha on top of that.

For a moment, Rosalie considered chasing after Bella anyways. But by then, the gorgeous mutt was already long gone, and Rosalie's phone was ringing once again.

Taking a few quick steps so that she was once on the Cullen side of the border, Rosalie grabbed her phone and answered the call.

"What, Edward? And this better be good."

"It is," Edward snapped back, before taking a deep breath to compose himself. "Angela is in grave danger. If we don't figure out something soon, she and her father might be killed."

"Got it." Sighing, Rosalie sent one last searching look towards the forest where Bella had disappeared to, still finding nothing. "I'll be at the house soon."

Hanging up the phone, Rosalie let out a frustrated scream and punched a hole straight through the nearest tree. Then, before she could rage and destroy the forest any more, she turned her back on the La Push territory and ran away.


	12. Chapter 12

_Author's Note: For everyone who's hating me for adding Tanya, I've been planning this since the beginning; I simply decided not to hide it from you all. It's a necessary part of the storyline, and Tanya still isn't going to be showing up in Forks until later on. Maybe some day I'll write a purely Bella/Rosalie fic, if you all really want me to, but sending me hate mail isn't the way to get me to. For those of you who are more understanding and supportive, thanks, and I hope you continue to enjoy my story._

Chapter 12

Bella was completely and utterly freaked out. Seriously, it was one thing for her wolf to desire Rosalie so badly, but for Bella herself to feel the same? It had to be some weird bond mojo, like her wolf's feelings bleeding onto Bella's. It was the only reasonable explanation. Bella would never actually crave the blonde bitch, not like her wolf did.

So why was Bella already regretting her reaction? Why did a part of her-not her wolf, but her-want to return to Rosalie and take the blonde into her arms again?

Horniness, Bella decided adamantly. It had to be horniness.

 _Good to know,_ Quil's voice chuckled in her head. _From now on, I now know that if you're horny and frustrated, I should stay far, far away from you. That is, if I want to keep all of my fur actually on my body._

 _Fuck off, Quil,_ Bella snarled at him, but even she felt her mood lift a little. _What are you doing here, anyways?_ By that, Bella wanted to know why he was a wolf and currently running towards her, but knew he would understand.

 _We're worried about you,_ Quil answered as he finally caught up to Bella, running alongside her. _And we figured out of all of us, who is most likely to talk to you and still make it out of the conversation with all body parts intact? It was between me and Jacob, and since Jake was pissed, the duty fell on me._

Bella frowned at that.Bella frowned at that. Jake's still pissed off? Why?

Quil gave a mental shrug. He doesn't like Rosalie, and he doesn't like what's going on between you two. He feels like she's to blame for a good chunk of the shit you have to put up with.

Huh. Bella felt a little ashamed that she hadn't realized Jacob was still feeling like that. He was such an easy going guy that Bella felt like he should have gotten over his pissiness by now. It made her worry that she was starting to slip when it came to her observation skills. Well, he's a dumbass. This is my shit to deal with, and the only reason he should dislike blondie is because of her bitchy personality, not because of what she and I have to deal with. What had happened between them threatened to rise to the forefront of her mind, but it was easy for Bella to fight off. She didn't want anybody seeing that but her, especially if that someone was Quil. While she loved joking around with him and wouldn't mind him teasing her about anything else, Rosalie was definitely a taboo topic and she didn't think she'd be able to take the teasing good naturedly.

 _Soooo…._ Quil said after a brief silence, bumping Bella with his shoulder. _What else do we have planned for today?_

Bella let out a sound that was a mix of a huff and a sigh. _I wish I knew._ Everything was just so fucked up right now, and Bella knew that nothing was going to settle down anytime soon. If only she could have a day off every once in awhile, maybe she'd be able to survive all of this a lot better. She was already afraid that she was losing the old her. Instead of being a happy go lucky jokester, she was becoming something she didn't like. She was harder now, less likely to laugh, and a hell of a lot angrier. She really, really didn't like the effect being not just an alpha, but a wolf protector, had on her. And honestly, she was afraid that her packmates might soon end up just like her.

 _Bella?_ Quil asked, his tone completely void of any playfulness. In fact, he sounded worried.

As she shook herself out of her deep, worried thoughts, she realized she had come to a complete stop and was just standing still, staring at the ground. Shaking herself out of it, both physically and mentally, she started to run again, faster than before.

 _Come on, let's go round up the others,_ Bella told Quil. _I'm in the mood for a pack party, and someone with thumbs is going to need to order the pizza._

 _Yes!_ Quil howled in joy, quickly running after her.

 _We can have fun,_ Bella thought quietly to herself, unknowingly to an over exuberant Quil. _This is fun. And it's just what we need. We're still kids, after all._

Now, if only she could get Rosalie out of her head. But at the moment, she was starting to fear the blonde.

Bella didn't like how she felt around Rosalie. After all, for Bella, girls were supposed to only be fun and sex, maybe a friend. Nothing closer, nothing that might risk damaging the walls Bella had put up. She had learned a long time ago how dangerous that was, taught that lesson by her very own mother.

But that look Rosalie had given her before she had run...yeah, it had been clear as day that Rosalie was going to do everything she could to break those walls down, no matter what Bella had to say about the matter.

Damn it, that's it. Bella needed to get drunk. Then she'd deal with Rosalie and the other vampires later.

It had taken time, four deer, and quite a few downed trees, but Rosalie had finally managed to calm down enough to return home. However, anybody who looked at her could tell she wasn't up for a single word of small talk, especially concern or questions regarding what happened after she ran off to find Bella. Well, everyone seemed to get her mood save for one annoying mindreader.

"Good, you're here. We have just finished up our plan to protect Angela," Edward said as he ran a hand through his hair. "What we're decided to do is cover her scent while I plant a fake trail so that James won't know which trail to follow. Then we'll get her to a hotel, preferably away from here, to guard her-"

"Why don't we just stay here?" Rosalie snapped, just managing to stop herself from lunging at her brother. "There's power in numbers. Not to mention we have a pack of wolves right next door who are sworn to kill any vampire intending harm that comes onto their territory." That's right, she was opting to stay where they were, possibly even suggesting to ask the wolves for assistance. It was apparently a surprise to the majority of her family, although many managed to school their features.

"Because they can find her here," Edward replied testily. "And James might be able to find out a way to get to her if he can stay nearby. It's smarter to make sure he can get nowhere near her."

"Edward…" Angela started, wanting to put in her own thoughts, especially as Rosalie's expression grew darker. "Maybe Rosalie's right. Besides, my parents will completely freak out if I don't come home."

Edward turned to the human, appearing to be in agony. He reached out and touched her cheek. "I can't….If you were to get hurt in any way because of me…"

"Oh, can it!" Rosalie snapped, getting a shocked gasp from Edward. "You're clearly not thinking straight."

"Yeah, Rose has a point," Emmett agreed in a mumble, which got him an elbow in the side from his mate.

"Shh, don't get in the middle," Violet hissed in warning, worried that both Edward and Rosalie, both who were on clear emotional highs, might turn on Emmett. And while she was protective of her mate and do anything to make sure he wasn't hurt, even she knew that fighting both Edward and Rosalie wouldn't end well.

"How about we take her to a hotel, but keep her nearby?" Carlisle suggested as he stood up, taking command of the room. "Edward, of course, will plant a fake trail leading in the opposite direction. This way, we will also be close enough to call on the wolves for help if necessary."

Alice grimaced, causing Jasper to automatically take the pixie into his arms. "It's a good idea, Carlisle. The only problem with it is that I can't see the wolves. We involve them, and we'll be going into this blind."

"Then we are not involving the wolves," Edward declared, pulling Angela against him protectively. "We need to be doing this using every advantage we have."

Rosalie snarled, but decided not to fight anyone further. "Whatever, do what you want. I have other things to worry about." Like that agitating alpha who actually ran away from her. There was an empty ache in her chest that hadn't lessened, and she needed to figure out how to proceed. Perhaps she should call Tanya? Not only had she not talked to the other blonde in a while, but she and Tanya had a very close connection. Rosalie had always felt that she could tell Tanya anything and vice versa, and Tanya was also older and a lot wiser. If anybody would know how to continue, it would definitely be the Denali coven leader.

"Wait, you can't leave. We need your help," Edward protested as Rosalie started up the stairs.

Letting out a low snarl, Rosalie considered showing just how she could help Edward by shoving a stick in his ass, but changed her mind at the last minute. Now wasn't the time to get into a fight, and if she did, that would just mean it would take longer to get to Bella, let alone how long it would take to get on the phone with Tanya.

Letting out a low sigh, Rosalie turned back towards her family, crossing her arms over her chest. "What do you need? And it better not be stupid."

Before Edward, or anyone else for that matter, could open their mouth, Carlisle stepped forward. "We need to plan further. Perhaps you should stay in the house until we come up with a better plan?

Rosalie snarled, letting everyone know just how pissed off she was. Making sure to spend a good, long second to glare at Edward and his little human, she then spun on her heel and stormed upstairs. She went straight for her room, slamming the door hard, but not hard enough to cause any damage. It was a good thing her room had been sound proofed, or Rosalie would have had something to say about staying at home as well.

Tanya picked up on the first ring, as if she had known Rosalie was about to call. That was another thing about them; they had some kind of crazy connection, one that Jasper had said was almost matelike. They could always feel when the other was experiencing any horrible emotion, which made Rosalie even feel a little guilty. Tanya must have felt how crazy Rosalie's emotions had been lately, but also knew that Rosalie hadn't been ready to talk to anyone, even Tanya, about it. It had to have driven the Denali coven leader at least a little crazy.

"Rosalie, what's wrong?" Tanya asked immediately, clearly worried.

When Rosalie had first picked up the phone, before even making the call, she had taken a deep breath as she had tried to organize her thoughts. However, all her planning went out the window at the clear concern in Tanya's voice, and she simply blurted out four words, "I found my mate."

There was a short pause, and for a moment, Rosalie was worried that Tanya was feeling hurt. She was so much older than Rosalie, and had to have been lonely, still unable to find her own mate. This incident could even feel like she was now losing Rosalie, who felt like the closest thing to her besides sisters, and Tanya might be feeling that, with Rosalie's admission, she no longer had anyone.

"That's great," Tanya replied softly, sounding truly happy for her.

"But it's not great," Rosalie spat, disgusted with so many things; herself, her situation, even Bella for not womaning up and running like a coward. "My mate's a wolf."

"A werewolf?" Tanya demanded, immediately on alarm.

Shit. Rosalie should have explained more first. She knew how dangerous werewolves were, and how the Denalis were about upholding the law since they lost Sasha. Although why Carlisle hadn't mentioned the Quiluetes to the Denalis after they had first met the wolves, Rosalie had no idea. "No, not werewolves. Carlisle thinks they are shapeshifters who only happened to shift into wolves." Taking another unnecessary deep breath, Rosalie continued. "It's horrible. They smell like wet dog, and they have the worst tempers. Just having them around makes living in Forks so much harder. And their alpha is the worst of them all. She's cocky, arrogant, immature, and an overall brat."

"She's also the one who is your mate, I take it?" Tanya asked dryly, already sensing where Rosalie was going with this.

Rosalie let out a large breath, snarling lowly. "Yes. At first, I hated the idea that she was my mate. Hated even looking at her. Every time we met, I just wanted to put her in her place and take a chunk of that pride of hers. I couldn't stand being around her, and of course, there was no way I wanted to mate or mark her."

"That must have been painful," Tanya said, and at first, Rosalie was confused as to what Tanya was talking about. But then she realized that Tanya had come to conclusions that were spot on. Obviously, keeping away from her mutt had to have driven Rosalie up a wall, what with her instincts going haywire. Even without marking or so much as touching your mate, even once, it was painful to stay away from your mate.

"Yes," Rosalie admitted, and to anyone else, she would have felt a large well of self loathing for admitting such weakness. But with Tanya, she felt herself relax, like a weight had been lifted off of her shoulders. She sat down on her bed, leaning back against the headboard. "I've basically given up fighting, Tanya. There was an incident today, and I just realized how stupid I was for fighting it, no matter how agitating she is. But then Bella freaked out and just ran away."

"I take it Bella is your mate?" Tanya asked, a tad of sarcasm to her voice. But she then continued before Rosalie could answer. "Tell me of the incident. What happened?"

Rosalie spilled everything that happened, how terrified she had been upon hearing Bella's howls, thinking that Bella had been injured. How apparently Bella had scented the three rogues and apparently gone insane needing to protect Rosalie, which had caused her to howl in the first place.

"It would figure that you would need such an idiotic incident to realize what you needed to do," Tanya said with a low sigh, which made the younger vampire feel a little embarrassed. "And what is this about rogues?"

Rosalie rolled her eyes at the stupidity of the situation and explained the needless drama, with Tanya agreeing with her. Although at first, Tanya was clearly outraged that Edward had told the human the vampire secret, putting the entire Cullen family, especially Rosalie, in danger. Rosalie had to calm Tanya's rage, and they then had to have a brief talk about the situation.

"Your coven should have no problem dealing with two vampires, and as long as this Laurent will not cause any trouble, we will welcome him with open arms," Tanya said, speaking as a coven leader instead of a friend. "And the human will be fine as long as you keep her in the house, well protected. These vampires might be patient, but two vampires will be much more likely to slip up and lose their lives. After all, while one or two of your coven may slip up as well, there will still be six vampires there to protect her."

"That's what I was saying," Rosalie said, sighing in annoyance. "Edward is making a big deal out of nothing."

"I always felt that he was a fool," Tanya agreed. "Especially when he is blinded by his own emotions. Now, back to your mate."

"What about her?" Rosalie asked, scowling as she once again remembered how Bella had fled.

"Clearly, she's feeling something for you, which scares her," Tanya started to explain. "What I would do is find a way to talk to her again."

"Find her and pin her to the ground!" Rosalie heard Kate yell from somewhere in the background. "It's obvious that you have to make sure she can't escape, then all you have to do is seduce her, and she's yours."

"This is a private conversation," Tanya's hiss was clear, despite Kate's cackling. "And you know how I feel about eavesdropping."

"Ah, shit," Kate muttered softly, which was quickly followed by a crash. There was quite a few other creative noises, and then the clear sound of a door shutting and locking.

"I apologize for that," Tanya told Rosalie, her voice completely calm. "You know how my sisters can be."

"Of course," Rosalie replied, more amused than anything. She quickly grew serious as the topic once again came back to Bella. "But perhaps Kate is right, on some level. The last two times we talked were quite chaotic. One ended in us fighting, the other in Bella running away. I don't want either to happen, but…"

"Your personalities do seem to clash quite a bit," Tanya said in agreement. "I know you love your privacy, but perhaps you should have a mediator join you?"

Rosalie grimaced at the thought, but quickly changed her mind. "I don't think I could stand having any of my family around. However, once things settle down a little here, do you think you can come down to be my mediator? Not only would you be able to calm me down when Bella and I start to fight, but your experience will also possibly help out in dealing with the entire situation."

"Of course, _maličký_ ," Tanya replied softly, seeming touched at Rosalie's suggestion. So touched, that Rosalie couldn't even complain about Tanya calling her "little one." "Although, unless things become too much for you in dealing with your mate, I would prefer to get Laurent settled first if he does arrive."

"Of course," Rosalie echoed, absently rubbing at the flesh over her heart. The supposedly dead organ was hurting quite a bit at the moment, just from the thought of things with Bella getting worse. "You're the best, Tanya."

"I'm always here for you," Tanya replied, almost a little sadly. "Just remember that, Rosalie. And know that everything will work out with your mate. I'll make sure of it."

"Rosalie! We've come up with a plan to protect Angela!" Edward shouted from downstairs before Rosalie could reply. "We need you!"

In response, Rosalie let out a low snarl that she knew none of her family could hear, but which also made Tanya laugh lightly.

"Good luck," the coven leader told her.

"Thanks," Rosalie replied. After a brief pause, no longer than a second, Rosalie added, "For everything."

"I've told you many times over the years, Rosalie. I'm always here for you, no matter how silly you think your problem is," Tanya said. Rosalie could almost feel Tanya's smile. Most likely, the coven leader was thinking of the few times when Rosalie had called her, only to tell Tanya how stupid it was for Rosalie to be calling her in the first place when she could handle the problem herself.

Rosalie almost thanked her again, only for Edward to once again holler, "Rosalie! Angela's life is at risk!"

Tanya let out another chuckle as Rosalie sighed. "I will talk to you later, _maličký_ ," Tanya assured her, and then hung up.

Putting down her phone, Rosalie stood up and started to stomp downstairs. Whatever plan they had, Rosalie's part in it better not take too long. She really wasn't in the mood to deal with any more stupidity than necessary.


	13. Chapter 13

_Author's Note: Don't get too excited or hopeful on my ability to write right now, but here's another update. I'm not sure if my burst of inspiration will continue or not for any of my stories, but let's hope for the best._

* * *

Chapter 13

Time passed, and Bella was still being driven insane. Not only was her wolf tormenting her for running from Rosalie, but Bella was tormenting herself for all sorts of reasons revolving around the blonde too.

She didn't really understand why she had run. Well yeah, she did; obviously Bella had been beyond freaked out by her own feelings. What Bella really didn't understand was why she was beating herself up about it. She was actually regretting the fact that she had run away, and caught herself time and time again thinking back to that day, wondering what would have happened if she had reacted differently. Almost as if she was considering letting the stupid bloodsucker in, which was stupid.

You couldn't let a woman in. You just couldn't. The closer you held a woman to your heart, the more it hurt when they decided to backstab you. Bella's mother was a prime example of that when she had thrown Bella away like garbage, leaving a toddler Bella to wander La Push, lost and confused, calling for her mother, until someone, Charlie happened to pick her up. Then Bella's belief was proven again when she watched what Renee, Charlie's wife at the time, had done to the man who had saved her.

Loving a woman was pure stupidity, whether as family or as something more. The only reason Bella had brought herself to care about Leah, Emily, and Rachel so much was because of what they had done for her growing up. And even then, Bella had never actually fallen in love with them, had only started regarding them as family when the whole wolf thing came along. Hell, Bella hadn't even thought she had the capability to fall in love.

That is, until Rosalie.

 _No. No way in hell. That's the imprint talking, Black,_ Bella growled to herself, her hands fisting at her sides as she glared out at the Cullen territory from her side of the border. _You don't fall in love, especially with that blonde bitch of a leech._

A cold, painful ball, colder even then the rain that was hitting her body, seemed to drop into Bella's stomach, making Bella feel sick even before her wolf started going crazy over Bella's mental rejection of their mate. Once again, Bella was reminded of why she was standing at the border in the middle of the night, soaked to the skin in only a sports bra and jeans that were only getting increasingly uncomfortable.

Bella hadn't seen or scented a single Cullen in nearly a week, and a part of Bella was terrified that after her fuck up, all of the Cullens had decided to move on. She was just so tempted to cross the border and learn for herself, but she couldn't, not with the way the Elders were riding her ass at the moment. They had been doing so ever since Colin and Brady had shifted and had started following her around like some lost puppies. It was bad enough that now kids even younger than Seth were starting to shift. Not only did it cause the rumor that Bella was even recruiting children into her gang to spread, but since the two now had some kind of hero worship for her going on, the Elders were getting grumpy. They didn't want Bella "corrupting" the kids, after all.

As if Bella didn't have enough stress and trouble to deal with, one of the Elders now insisted on being there every time Bella held a training session. Every. Single. Damn. Time. It was getting harder to get even a moment's peace, and it got to the point where Bella was too paranoid to even risk thinking about her troubles and emotions over Rosalie in fear that one of her wolves might accidentally slip and say something they shouldn't in front of one of the Elders.

One wrong move, and Bella knew, without a doubt, the Elders would have Bella's hide. And while Bella wanted to point out the sticks they all seemed to have up their asses by grabbing those sticks and shoving them as far up their rectums as she could, Bella wasn't about to risk doing anything that might fuck with her pack in the long run. Yet even her good behavior wasn't helping, only making the Elders more suspicious, as they knew Bella and knew she had to be up to something.

Which, if they knew what Bella was doing every night, she guessed she kind of was up to something. If that something meant desperately looking for any sign of the Cullens, Rosalie especially, to help deal with her fucked up emotions.

So here Bella was once again, soaked through and feeling like shit at four in the morning, staring out at the forest in Cullen territory like an idiot. And she continued to do just that, right up until the sun started to rise.

Sighing, Bella let out a low growl and nearly punched a tree, hating how stupid and almost...lovesick...she was acting, only to freeze when she heard a familiar voice. A voice that sounded just as pissed off as Bella felt.

"I swear, my fucking brother is the most stupid, rash little princess I've ever had to deal with. If he had just listened to my idea, he wouldn't be at Angela's bedside right now, worrying like a little baby. She wasn't even that badly injured! It wasn't like James had tortured her or anything. He barely even had time to put his hands on her before we killed him. It's just a single broken wrist, for fuck…" Rosalie trailed off mid-rant, freezing in place as she caught sight of the large, gorgeous figure of her mate, who was completely soaked to the skin; not that Rosalie was in much better condition herself. Of course, in Rosalie's case, she was fully clothed, while Bella only wore a sports bra and jeans, bearing so much tantalizing, flawless skin and rippling muscle that Rosalie couldn't help but stare, devouring her mate's body with her eyes.

Immediately, Rosalie's instincts went haywire. _Mate! Touch, take, claim, need…_

The longing Rosalie felt the entire time she had been away seemed to double, making it hard to breathe. But at the same time, she was furious. Furious Bella had run away, and furious that Edward's little problem had pulled Rosalie away from Bella for so long.

"Hey, blondie," Bella muttered, unable to say anything else as she turned to stare at the woman she had been longing to catch a glimpse of for so long. How a girl could look so gorgeous dripping with water was beyond her. Rosalie should have been looking like a drowned rat, but instead she looked like some kind of mermaid princess who happened to grow some legs for the evening.

"Aren't you going to run away like a scared pup again, mutt?" Rosalie replied scathingly, crossing her arms over her chest as she leaned against a nearby tree with a glare. She expected a snapped retort, maybe even a comeback complete with a cocky grin, but to her surprise, emotions flashed across Bella's face, and the alpha seemed to be struggling with something.

"This imprint thing is a bitch and a half," Bella growled, shoving all of her warring emotions as far away as she could. Her wolf wasn't so easy to push away, and Bella had a quick grapple with the animal inside of her mind before giving up, not quite yet willing to admit that Bella needed it too. "Alright, alright," Bella snapped at the wolf, making Rosalie arch an eyebrow at her.

"Has being a wolf driven you so close to insanity that you're hearing voices now, or was that one of your packmates?" Rosalie asked dryly.

"Oh, I'm definitely losing my fucking mind," Bella growled as she stomped over to Rosalie, stopping right on the border. "Come here," Bella spat at Rosalie, still worked up from fighting with her wolf.

Rosalie narrowed her eyes, and was about to give it to Bella for talking to her like that, no matter how much she wanted to do just what Bella had said. But before Rosalie got the words out, Bella shook herself with a grimace.

"Shit, I didn't mean it like…" Bella met Rosalie's gaze, giving the blonde the most heartbreaking puppy dog look she had ever seen in all of her years as both a human and vampire. "Please, Rose?"

Letting out a long breath and reminding herself not to throw the "please" back in Bella's face, Rosalie walked over to Bella, taking her time just to show, both to herself and the alpha, that she hadn't been driven as crazy by the separation as it appeared Bella had been. Rosalie was pretty sure she had done a good job of that, seeing as Rosalie felt like she had just told the biggest lie in history without saying a word. Rosalie was actually amazed that she hadn't completely lost it in the short walk over to where Bella stood.

Once she had stopped walking, the two just stared at each other for the longest time. It was at that moment that Rosalie remembered that she was supposed to be trying to break down those walls Bella seemed to have and actually get to claiming the wolf. Rosalie had decided to give up on fighting the imprint, hadn't she? But damn it, why did she have to be so stubborn and proud all the time? She really would need Tanya to help her if this is the kind of way Rosalie acted towards her mate on instinct.

Bella just couldn't hold back anymore. She _needed_ to touch her mate. So without any thought, Bella reached out and brushed some of the rain from Rosalie's cheek. Her fingers lingered, and both she and Rosalie sighed with relief from the contact.

The rain started to let up, but of course neither moved besides Bella cupping Rosalie's cheek, and Rosalie leaning in to the contact. Both girls gazed at each other, seeing the warring emotions in their mate's eyes.

"This is killing me," Bella said at last. "I hate you, hate this, but at the same time I don't. It's driving me insane."

"Well, I don't." Realizing what words had escaped her, Rosalie scowled. She wasn't one for leaving herself open and vulnerable, even with her mate. _Especially_ with her mate, with what a piece of work Bella and she could be when around each other. "Not completely, anyways. I've wanted, needed a mate for so long, and if fate or whatever has decided that my mate is you...well, let's just say I've given up fighting it."

"You realize how fucked up this is, don't you?" Bella demanded, getting a little pissed off. "Everything we are mixes like oil and water. Not just our personalities; we're werewolf and vampire, and on opposite sides. We have a treaty line separating us since before I was born, for fucks sake. We even smell horrible, practically repulsive to each other. Not to mention I-" Bella immediately cut herself off and looked away with a low snarl, realizing that she had been seconds away from revealing something personal about herself, something she had never talked to anyone about, even her father and Jacob. She had never felt the need to share it before, and she'd be damned if she was going to talk about it now, regardless of how easily Bella had nearly admitted it.

"You don't smell bad to me. Just the opposite." Rosalie could tell she was losing Bella fast-something Bella had been about to say must have set her off. With a desperation she'd never admit, she grabbed Bella's hand, which was still cupping her face. Bella's eyes, which had gone distant and darkened, not with anger but with something that deeply troubled her, focused again. She looked up at Rosalie, and for a moment, Rosalie saw it; the look on Bella's face was so lonely and scared, it would have taken Rosalie's breath away had she needed to breathe. This wasn't the look of a wounded alpha, this was the face of a hurt, abandoned child, one who was terrified of being alone again.

A second later, the expression was gone, and Bella was frowning at Rosalie. The blonde didn't know if Bella had even realized she had accidentally let Rosalie see inside of her, but she knew better to bring it up. Rosalie had her own demons, after all, and her own reactions to it being brought up caused her to go on the defensive. If by defensive, that meant Rosalie would verbally and even physically attack whoever mentioned it, doing everything she could to tear whoever it was down and make them understand that they should never talk about whatever the subject was again.

Trying to lighten the mood, Rosalie offered Bella a wry smile. "Yeah, that's right, I'll admit it. You don't just smell good to me; your scent draws me in." Her smile turned into a smirk as she added, "Your little pack, on the other hand, reeks. And I often smell them all over you. So perhaps you should bathe a little more often, perhaps five times a day? Then I might actually be able to stand being in your presence and enjoy your natural scent while pretending you still smell horrible." Rosalie was getting a little nervous now, as Bella still didn't say anything. Exuding nothing but confidence, Rosalie dropped her hand from Bella's and placed it on her cocked hip. "What? You can't honestly tell me that I don't smell good to you too. I'm your fucking imprint, aren't I?"

"Yeah," Bella admitted softly, almost under her breath, as she nodded. There was a flash of vulnerability in her eyes, but Rosalie didn't get a chance to study it as Bella grabbed Rosalie around the waist and jerked her into her body. Rosalie fought the urge to shiver as Bella's hot body enveloped hers, almost as if the alpha were shielding her from the outside world. Bella's face in Rosalie's neck, Bella breathed in Rosalie's scent, making her instincts go haywire and her wolf howl in joy, before admitting, "Your scent draws me in too."

Had Rosalie been human, she would have broken out in goosebumps as Bella's breath danced across her skin. She felt warmer than ever before as she said, "That's what I thought." Strangely enough, she actually sounded breathless. How could a creature who didn't need to breathe actually be out of breath?

Bella's body shuddered with need. All of the reasons as to why this was a bad idea flooded her mind, but her wolf was there to block them, chase them away, and let Bella bask in how good it felt now that she was giving in.

Rosalie's arms circled Bella's neck and Rosalie pressed closer, feeling Bella's muscled body against her, without a thought. And that was the thing, Rosalie couldn't think. Not a single word or wonder about how something so simple could feel this good came into her head. Her mind was completely silent, her instincts, which were usually screaming at her to give in to her need and take her mate by any means necessary, were just as quiet as her mind. And Rosalie had never felt more content in her entire life.

Rosalie went from a puddle of mush in Bella's arms to hyper alert stone, however, the second Bella's teeth scraped along Rosalie's neck. All of her instincts woke back up, and Rosalie gasped at the intensity of it. The desire for Bella's bite, and the need for Rosalie to do the same to the wolf, was nearly overwhelming, to the point Rosalie's fingers dug in to Bella's back in an effort to anchor herself.

Bella tightened her grip with a low rumble, sensing the change in Rosalie's body, sensing her need. Her wolf was pacing, snarling, demanding Bella give it to Rosalie. That Bella bite and fuck and claim, to give both herself and the vampire what they needed so badly.

No. If Bella gave in now, if Bella opened herself up to this girl, let herself love her, she'd be leaving herself vulnerable. Rosalie would leave her, just like Bella's mother had done. Would leave her screaming and crying and begging for her to come back, just like the pathetic little kid Bella had been all those years ago. There was no way it couldn't happen, not with them on opposite sides, even with the mating bond.

Rosalie buried her face in Bella's throat and whimpered with need, and Bella stared down at the blonde in her arms. Despite knowing what would happen, in that moment, Bella didn't care. She was going to do it. She was going to love this vampire, even if they fought every minute of their lives together, if that meant Rosalie would be happy. Bella would take on the agony when Rosalie left her, just for one more moment like this.

Bella leaned in, her mouth skimming Rosalie's neck, letting out a wolvin whine as Rosalie tilted her head to the side, giving Bella more access. Bella was about to bite, to claim Rosalie as hers, if only for a moment. And then she sensed it. Or, more specifically, she sensed _them._

"Bella, we came to check on-what the-?"

With a snarl, Bella released Rosalie and spun to glare at Colin and Brady, claws out and eyes taking on a feral tinge of her wolf.

"Shit. Is that a vampire?" Colin gasped, staring dumbly at Bella, as Rosalie was behind Bella, being shielded by her. Brady shuddered with a snarl, his wolf rising, demanding it be released to fight the potential threat.

"It's nothing," Bella snapped, the alpha in her so strong, even in her voice, that it pressed down on the two young teens like a physical force. Brady stopped fighting the shift, as his wolf retreated with a whine, and both boys dropped to a knee.

Rosalie felt the power too, but instead of needing to fall, Rosalie felt the need to rise towards it, be closer towards it. Her nails scraping the skin of Bella's upper back, Rosalie pressed her body against Bella's from behind, kissing Bella's skin right between her shoulder blades.

Bella tensed under the kiss, nearly distracted from the boys by her need to have Rosalie, right then and there. But she couldn't. For one thing, she was right in front of two very impressionable teens, teens who didn't know what was going on.

"Go," Bella growled at Rosalie, digging her claws into her palms in an effort to control herself. "Now. Before we find ourselves in even more shit."

At first, Rosalie scowled, and nearly even opened her mouth to start arguing. However, she then realized Bella clearly had some alpha business to take care of, and how hard it might be, as Bella would need to explain why she had been holding a vampire on pack lands. Also, while Rosalie still buzzed, her body craving more from the alpha, they clearly couldn't continue, and Rosalie didn't want to end everything on a bad note. Who knew how far that would take both of them back?

Rosalie touched Bella's back in understanding, and then she was running. Running, and then hunting as she struggled to deal with all the wild emotions inside of her. But even after filling herself, she still felt need. Need to fight and punch and fuck. None of which was easily taken care of, at least not right now.

Tanya. Rosalie needed to call Tanya. The older vampire would calm her just like she always did, and they would be able to update each other.

Desperate, Rosalie grabbed her phone and made the call. Tanya picked up on the first ring.

"What happened?" Tanya asked, concern in her voice. She knew something was wrong, and that Rosalie needed to talk before Rosalie could even take a breath, could even think about whether the older vampire might actually be able to hear this without feeling any type of discomfort or pain.

All it took was that honey voice, and Rosalie spilled everything that happened. Tanya listened attentively, then offered advice, and openly wondered about Bella's reaction to certain events and what might have happened to her. Then, when Tanya sensed Rosalie couldn't handle anymore talk about her mate troubles, Tanya easily and seamlessly switched topics to what was going on up in Denali.

Rosalie sensed there might be something wrong, and so she started to press the other blonde for answers, knowing that Tanya probably didn't want to give Rosalie any more stress. Finally, Tanya broke and admitted that there might be some trouble with Laurent, who was wooing Irina, and Rosalie gave some advice about that; mainly, to rip off his balls and shove them down his throat if he tried anything.

They talked and talked, talked until Rosalie's battery was about to die and the sun was setting. Having no choice but to hang up, as she didn't want to continue having this conversation at the house where nosey vampires might be able to listen in, the two said their goodbyes and ended the call.

Feeling much better, although incomplete, Rosalie let out a sigh and looked back towards the reservation, craving her mate. Instead of following her desire, Rosalie turned away and started walking home.


End file.
